Eternity
by smartprettyawkward
Summary: When Logan's fiancee leaves him but suddenly returns, he and Rory come up with a plan to deal with her. What happens when the plan works better than they could have ever imagined? AU
1. Chapter 1

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

It wasn't the best idea Logan Huntzberger had ever come up with, but he was desperate. It had been four months since 'the break-up', and although he was still sure his heart would never recover, if he didn't find a roommate soon, his heart wouldn't be the only thing out on the street.

"Hello, you," Rory Gilmore said, throwing an arm around his shoulder and digging her chin into it as he stood next to the company bulletin board, notice in-hand, trying to find the courage to post it. "Whatcha doing?"

"Looking for a new roommate."

Slowly Rory's arm slide from his shoulder, and she crossed her arms. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. Bubbles moved out."

"Mandy," he said petulantly. "Her name is Mandy."

"Mandy, Brandy, Candy, Bubbles. Whatever. You and I know you can do better than her."

He looked at her, set the square of his jaw, and shook his head. "Nope. Not anymore. I've given up on doing better."

Rory cocked a disbelieving brown eyebrow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, I'm taking myself out of the game." With renewed determination, he reached up and tacked the notice on the board. "I am officially single and proud of it."

"Yeah, right." She narrowed her blue eyes at him without even glancing at the notice. "So, let me guess. Single, white male with medium-great apartment looking for roommate to split the rent. No smokers, druggies, or women need apply. 555-1265." She laughed as the annoyed look spread across hi face. "Oh, yeah. And no pets either."

Their gazes locked as he tried to decide how much of her speech as teasing and how much was making fun of him. Her smile was maddening to the core.

"What?" he finally asked in frustration.

"Nothing." She shrugged as though the question and him were utterly beyond help. On her heel, she turned and started away from him.

For two steps, he followed her, and then he turned back to the board, ripped down the notice, and looked at it. "Single, white male…" With one swipe he crumpled it into a tiny ball and threw it into the first available trashcan as he raced after her.

"What should I do then?" he asked, catching her just as she turned into her cubicle. "How else can I find a roommate?"

She shrugged as her hands rifled through the papers on her desk. "You put the word out – to your friends, people you know. Ask them if they know anyone who's looking."

"And that works?" he asked skeptically.

"That's how I met my last roommate. Best roommate I've ever had. She cooked, she cleaned, she even bought groceries if I gave her the money."

"Hmm." He leaned a long, smoke-grey pant leg onto her desk. "Sounds great. How can I…"

"You can't have her."

"Why not?"

"Because she got married three months ago."

"Oh." He held out the papers in his hands knowing he should be working. "Well, then, do you think…?"

"Sure, she said with a soft smile. "I'll ask around."

The papers fell back to his knee as he looked at her gratefully. "Man, I don't know where I'd be without you."

Three days later Rory poked her head around the corner of his cubicle. "Good news."

He didn't bother looking up from his computer as he continued typing the article in front of him. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"I think I found someone."

"Lucky you," he said, his gaze never leaving his computer.

"Not for me, silly. For you."

"Huh?" he looked up confused.

"I found you a roommate," she said before she ducked back out of his cubicle and into her own.

"What?" He jumped up, sending his chair crashing to the floor although he didn't notice. In two seconds he was in her cubicle. He pulled the extra chair over to her desk and sat down expectantly. "Talk."

She sorted the papers on her desk for a few more seconds, and then she looked at him as the excitement flowed through her eyes. "A friend of mine from Yale – Dave Theron – you remember him, he's the guy we met when we were shopping for your couch that time. Remember, that ugly yellow thing you said reminded you of your grandmother's…"

"Rory."

The story stopped, and she looked at him as though they hadn't been sitting in her cubicle the whole time. "Oh, yeah. Well anyway, Dave's got this cousin. He's from Denver or someplace. He just moved to town, and he's staying with Dave until he can find a place."

Slowly she cocked her head to the side and looked at him expectantly. He sat, looking at her, waiting for the rest of the story, but she said nothing.

"And?" he finally asked, lifting his hand, motioning her to continue.

"And," she said as annoyance crept into her voice, "he'll be at your apartment tonite at seven – just for a meeting, nothing permanent."

"Oh, my gosh." His eyes closed with relief. "Thank you Ace. You're amazing, you know that?" With no hesitation, he stood, walked around her desk, and hugged her to him. "You have to be the best friend in the whole world."

She smiled into his starched shirt as she closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him being so close. "Just happy to help."

There wasn't enough stuff in his apartment to clean three times, but he wanted everything to be perfect for the meeting. He arranged the two pillows Rory had bought for his couch twice before giving up and dusting the stereo system. It was silly, and a little obsessive-compulsive, to constantly worry about the cleanliness of the apartment, but what could he do.

He had never been the sentimental type and he was sure he would never fall for a girl. Ever. But then he met Mandy and all his defenses and walls seemed to sail out the window. Losing Mandy, the one girl he loved, seemed like the end of the world to him. Having to move would have pushed him over the edge. Carefully he replaced the smooth, ebony marble statue that had mysteriously appeared on his work desk last Christmas. It had stayed there until Mandy had come home and announced she was seeing someone else. Then the statue had relocated to his place over his stereo.

He was sure he received it mistakenly, but something about it was too personal, he didn't have the heart to throw it out.

A knock at the door brought him back to reality, and he checked the room once more before taking a deep breath and opening the door.

"Hi," a slightly taller man just younger than Logan said.

"Hi," Logan said awkwardly.

They stood silently for a few moments, sizing each other up.

"I'm Brian," the young man finally said, extending his hand. "Brian Easton."

Logan smiled in relief. "Logan Huntzberger." They shook hands. "You must be Dave's cousin."

"Yep," Brian said, not moving from the doorway.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Logan stepped back letting Brian enter the apartment.

"Nice place," Brian said with his hands securely stuck in his pockets. Weaving his body back and forth, he examined the apartment from each vantage point as his feet carried him across the hardwood floor.

"I just got home," Logan said, lying on a little bit. "So I haven't really had time to clean it up."

"It's nice," Brian said again, stopping to examine the kitchen and the little table.

"So, you just moved here?" Logan asked, following Brian through the apartment.

"Yeah, from Denver."

"Oh? Why'd you move?"

"Too cold," Brian said. "So, the bedrooms are upstairs then?"

"Yeah," Logan said, holding a hand up the stairs. "There's two bedrooms and one bath."

He let Brian go ahead of him and then followed him up, running his hands together with each step. "The rent's not too bad, but a little more than I can handle myself."

"What happened to your last roommate?" Brian asked, glancing in one of the bedrooms at the top of the stairs.

"I killed her," Logan said a little too seriously, and Brian arched an eyebrow at him. "No, I'm kidding." Logan laughed. "She moved out."

"She?" Brian nodded in understanding as he made his way to the bathroom. "So, how do you plan on splitting the groceries?"

Logan shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We could either buy our own or pool the money. Whichever."

Brian nodded. "What about the utilities and stuff?"

"Everything but the phone's included."

"Nice," Brian said, appraising the situation. "Well, are you…I mean, do you have any other options?"

"Nope, you're it," Logan said with a shrug.

"Well, I'll take it then." Brian extended his hand again. "When can I move in?"

"Whenever you're ready," Logan said, accepting the hand.

"So I hear congratulations are in order," Rory said, leaning against Logan's doorway with two Dixie cups in-hand.

He looked up from the computer and leaned back in his chair. "Hey, yeah. I didn't get a chance to thank you this morning."

"Yeah, yeah, but you meant to. I know." She handed him one cup and sat down.

"Champagne on the job?" he asked skeptically. "Rory, I didn't think you had it in you."

"Yes, you did," she said as he took a drink. "It's ginger-ale."

He nodded with a knowing smile as he took another drink. "Figures."

"Aren't we even going to toast?" she asked, having never so much as lifted her cup.

Instantly he stopped. "To what?"

She set her elbows on his desk and stared at him for a moment. "I don't know. How about to old friends and new friends."

"And all those in between," he said, raising his cup to hers.

A/N: This story is based on something I read a really long time ago and I have no idea why I'm writing it now. Please review & let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Hey, Logan, you coming?" Brian called from his seat on the couch. "They just kicked off."

Logan grabbed the popcorn and Cool Ranch Doritos from the cabinet and headed for the living room. "How awesome is this? Beer, football, and all the popcorn you could possibly eat in one room."

"It's perfect." Brian reached for some popcorn as the little men ran around the screen. "Throw it! Throw it! Oh, my God." He sat back on the yellow couch in agony. "The Broncos have got to get a new quarterback or they'll never return to the Elway glory days."

"If he could just run a little bit, it would help." Logan grabbed a handful of chips and shook his head. "You can't just drop back and stand there. You'll get killed every time."

The next play started on the television.

"Go! Throw it! Throw it! Look at him, he's wide open! Yes!" Frantically Brian jumped to his feet as the pass on the screen sailed over the intended receiver. "Ahh, man! You've got to be kidding me. Oh, it's going to be a long year."

OoOoOoOo

"He likes the Broncos," Logan said, happily slapping the side of Rory's cubicle wall Tuesday morning.

"The Broncos?" she asked, looking up in confusion. "He likes the rodeo?"

"No, the Denver Broncos ding-dong."

Instantly her face fell in revulsion, "Ugh, like that's any better. Is he crazy or something?"

"Hey." Logan narrowed his eyes at her. "That's my team you're talking about."

"Oh, yeah," she said sympathetically. "I forgot you're mentally unstable too."

"Ouch, two in a row." He took a step back as though he'd just been fatally wounded. Then he stepped forward and leveled an index finger at her. "You know, if you keep this up, I'm going to stop coming by."

"If God would be so kind."

"Yep, I'm going to just leave, and you're going to miss me. You'll see."

"Miss you?" she asked, refocusing her attention on her desk. "I think I'll break out into a rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Huntzberger," Elliot, the paunch, gray-headed supervisor called from behind him, and Logan turned just as a stack of computer printouts landed in his hands. "Cindy's out sick. These are her notes for her article; I need it done before you leave tonight."

Logan's eyes closed in instant frustration as the supervisor kept walking down the hallway. With a sigh, he looked back at her. "I'd better get to work."

"Yeah," she said sympathetically. "Good luck."

He bobbed his head and started back to his desk.

"I hope you have better luck than the Broncos did last night," she called, and he smiled in spite of her barb.

OoOoOoOoOo

"So, Logan, you never told me what it is you do exactly," Brian said the following night as they sat over plates of Hamburger Helper Cheesy Enchilada.

"I'm a journalist for the Hartford Courant," Logan replied disdainfully.

"Not your first choice, I take it."

"Umm, no, more like 53rd. Long story, but it pays the bills." He pushed a piece of hamburger around his plate. "How about you? What do you do?"

"I design," Brian said.

"Design? Like what, houses!"

"No, landscapes."

"Oh, you're a landscaper."

"Landscape design artist," Brian corrected forcefully, and then he shrugged. "That's what I want to do anyway. Right now I'm the assistant to the assistant."

"What does that entail?" Logan asked although he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.

"Carrying shovels around for my Uncle Jack."

"Ahh, Uncle Jack, and he's a landscaper."

"Yeah." Brian took a long drink. "Landscaping in Denver was this side of pointless. All I did was shovel snow."

"Which, I take it, is worse than carrying shovels."

"It's not bad once or twice a year, but seven months a year is a little much."

" So, is this something you've gone to school for?" Logan asked, gaining interest in the topic.

"Carrying shovels?" Brian asked, and then he realized what Logan meant. "Oh, design. Yeah, I took some classes at the community college in Denver. Technically I have an associate's degree."

"Technically?"

"I was three hours short from finishing when Uncle Jack offered me a job." Brian shrugged. "I hate Denver anyway, and I really didn't see the point of staying, so here I am."

Logan nodded. "Okay, so, what do you landscape exactly?"

"Uncle Jack has his own company. He mostly does malls and offices. Things like that."

"He designs them?"

"No, he contracts to do the actual work – the mowing, the weeding – that stuff."

" So you weed gardens?"

Brian wrinkled his nose at the statement. "Yeah, but just until I can get someone to see my designs."

"What designs?"

"Parks, backyards, some office buildings, but mostly residential stuff."

"And your designs are…in your head?"

"Oh, no. I've got a whole portfolio of them, planned out to the last begonia."

Logan raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"You want to see them?" Brian asked to the disbelieving face across the table.

"Sure."

Brian stood to take his dishes to the sink.

"I'll get these." Logan stood and picked up his own plate. It was nice to have a conversation over dinner with someone other than the TV.

He had just wiped off the kitchen table when he noticed Brian laying papers on the table. Quickly he wiped his hands on the towel and went to rejoin Brian at the table. A myriad of drawings were spread out across the oak table.

Carefully Logan picked one up, examined it as Brian folded his arms, and watched for Logan's reaction.

"This is a design?" Logan asked, squinting to read the tiny letters in all the shapes across the page.

"Yeah, it's a park."

Logan nodded although he couldn't quite figure out what he was looking at.

"That's the basic layout, and then I've got this one that shows the elevation," Brian reached down and handed a second page to Logan who took a step back in surprise.

"Whoa. That's nice."

The elevation drawing was done on a regular piece of paper, but that was the only thing that was regular about it. It had trees spread across it with patches of flowers and a sidewalk that naked through it. But something about it was inviting – like it wrapped around you.

"You drew this?" Logan asked genuinely impressed.

"Yeah, I did that one before I took any classes. It's really rough."

"It looks good to me."

"I've got some other stuff up in the room. Scale models I did for class – that sort of thing."

Logan looked back at the table and picked another drawing up. "And this one?"

"That's one I did for the daycare center down the road from my house in Denver, but they only did the play equipment, the plants would've taking too much maintenance."

"So, you set this one up?"

Slowly Brian shook his head as his gaze dropped back to the table. "They did."

"Who's they?" Logan asked as Brian began gathering the drawings together.

"My boss," Brian said with barely concealed anger.

"They used your idea?"

"Yeah without using me," Brian said heatedly. "They gave my idea to their design artist, and he did the final layout."

"I don't understand," Logan said as his forehead furrowed in confusion.

"Join the club." Brian stuffed all the drawings back in his folder and looked at the clock. "I think I'm going to call it a night. I've got to be at work at six tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay." Logan handed the drawing back to Brian and watched him go.

It was strange. On the outside, they looked as different as daylight and darkness – Logan in his flawless business attire complete with coordinating tie and perfectly pressed shirt and pants, Brian in worn jeans and a t-shirt that had obviously seen its share of dirt and grime. Yet, they were both in jobs they hated, hoping to work their way up the proverbial ladder. With a shake of his head, Logan snapped off the lights and followed Brian up the stairs. He too had a date tomorrow with a boss and a job he couldn't stand.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"I think I'm going to quit," Logan said the next day as he sat across the desk from Rory.

"Quit?" she asked in immediate concern. "Why?"

"Don't you ever get tired of writing article after article? We write about the same thing day after day."

She leaned back in her chair and surveyed him with a worried look. "No."

"Well, I do. This isn't what I wanted to do; it's what my parents wanted to me to do. I didn't beat my head against a wall at Yale for four years so I could sit in some cubicle at a computer screen with the nearest window five rooms over."

Her forehead furrowed in puzzled consternation. "Where's this coming from?"

"Nowhere," he said, shaking his head with a sad, pathetic laugh. "Forget I mentioned it." And with that he stood and walked out.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Two hours later he walked back into her cubicle with a stack of paper in his hands.

"Elliot wants these sorted and organized by four," he said, dumping them on her desk.

"By four?" she asked, looking up in surprise at both his appearance and his tone. "But I'm working on the construction article."

"Don't you know, you're supposed to _prioritize_," he said sarcastically with his face set like stone. "Weren't you listening at the last meeting?"

"Logan, can we talk about this?" she asked, fighting to breathe through the fear filling her lungs.

"About what?" he asked at her door, and she saw his jaw set.

"About your quitting," she said, stumbling through the minefield in his eyes. "And about why you're mad at the world."

"I'm not mad at the world." His jaw locked tighter in defense, "I'm mad at myself."

"Why?" she asked softly.

"Oh, come on, Ace, even you can't be that blind." He held his hands out from his sides. "Look at me, I'm 29 years old, and what have I done with my life. Huh? I've got an ex-fiancée on top of a whole string of meaningless relationships before her. I'm in a job I despise in a career I hate. I come to work everyday, stay late every night working myself to death for what? A ten-cent pay raise?" He shook his head in frustration. "God, I've got to get out of here."

She knew what she wanted to say, but at the last moment the courage to say it escaped from her.

"Elliot wants that stuff on his desk by four," Logan said, pointing to the stack with that depressed, angry tone, and she looked down at the stack. "I've got work to do."

When she looked up again, he was gone.

Logan leaving? She tried to breathe. He'd joked about it for years, but this time he wasn't joking, she could feel it in her gut. She had to have known this would come eventually, afterall the newspaper business wasn't his choice. Her gaze fell from the doorway to the stack of papers as snapshots from the last four years ran through her head. Their first meeting, buying the couch for his apartment, eating lunch together. Coffee and donuts in the morning. A couple quick sandwiches in the afternoon down in the atrium. Chicken salad, that was his favorite.

Her heart ached as the thought of his touch ran through her mind. He would never care about her the way she cared about him, but she could live with that. As long as he was here, right next door, stopping in to see her every day, she could handle not being with him. But him leaving for good? That was another story. She couldn't imagine someone else in the next cubicle. Not hearing his voice when his phone rang. Not looking up and seeing him with his hand on her wall, leaning in, asking her something meaningless.

But all that meaninglessness had come to mean so much in her small world, for when she went home to her empty apartment, the meaninglessness that he had shared with her during the day was all that she had to hold onto at night. If he left, she wouldn't even have meaninglessness left.

As pain screeched through her heart, she laid her head down on the stack of papers and let it take her.

OoOoOoOooOoO

"You have no idea how many trees I planted today," Brian said as he dropped to the couch and covered his eyes with his wrist.

"20?" Logan offered, sitting down in the chair and clicking on the TV.

"352," Brian said without picking his head off the couch.

"For who?"

"The nursing home they're putting up north of town. Trees, trees, and more trees. That's all I see every time I close my eyes. And not one of them had more than a few minutes of thought behind it. 'Yeah, Brian, I think we need another one over here,'" he said, imitating someone Logan could only guess was supposed to be Uncle Jack.

"They put one four feet from a sidewalk," Brian continued. "Four feet. An elm tree at that. A _Chinese_ Elm."

"And that's bad?" Logan asked, not having a clue as to why Brian sounded like the world was ending.

"Umm, yeah," Brian said sarcastically. "In two years they'll be digging that thing back up and replacing the sidewalk."

"Why?"

"Roots," Brian said simply. "You've got to design with the root system in mind – not just whatever's cheapest. I bet that cheap elm tree ends up costing them six times what they paid for it."

"Well, why didn't you tell somebody?"

"Ha!" Brian said spitefully. "They know what they're doing. They don't want to hear ideas form some little hired hand."

Logan wanted to argue, but his thoughts slammed into his own office, and he knew exactly the trap Brian was in.

"So, if this isn't what you want to do, you must have some reason for doing it."

"Connections," Brian said, sitting up and leaning his elbows on his knees to drink from his tea sitting on the coffee table. "It's all about connections."

"What kind of connections?"

"The kind you make while you're on the job. The kind that'll eventually start contacting me directly instead of going through Uncle Jack."

"And then what?" Logan asked completely taken by Brian's absolute understanding of where he was going and how he was getting there.

"And then, I start my own company. I hire my own crew, and I transform this city one backyard at a time."

"Huh. So you've got it all figured out then?" Logan asked as a hard ball formed in the pit of his stomach. "Your whole life mapped out in front of you."

"Pretty much." Brian set the glass down and leaned back into the couch. "I just wish it could happen a little faster, you know? But there's such a thing as paying your dues, too. That can't be discounted. Believe me, I'll be much more sympathetic with the guys on my crews because I've been out there myself."

"Setting elm trees."

Brian nodded. "In the wrong places."

OoOoOoOoOoO

"You want to go to lunch?" Logan asked on Friday, and Rory's heart took its familiar trip skyward.

He hadn't stopped his trips to her cubicle – yet.

"Sure," she said thankful for one more afternoon with him.

Once they had their sandwiches, they walked down to the atrium and found a spot on a bench surrounded by trees. After unwrapping his chicken salad sandwich, Logan leaned back and looked up at the trees with a laugh.

"What?" She asked, liking how his profile looked in the sunlight playing through the treetops.

"Just something Brian said the other night," he said, and then his smile faded. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Do you think it's a bad thing if you don't have a map of your life worked out ahead of time?"

"A map?"

"Yeah, like exactly where you're going?"

"I don't know," she said, turning away from his profile. "I suppose sometimes it's nice just to let things happen."

"Yeah." He took a bite of sandwich and a deep breath. "You know I look down the road to where I'm heading, and I can't really see anything – nothing solid. Nothing that I really want to go for. Nothing I'd give everything to get." He took another bite. "I feel like I'm wasting my time, but then I think well, what else would I be doing, and I can't come up with an answer to that question."

The feelings behind his words pulled her to him like a magnet until he turned to her and smiled, a move which sent her quickly back to her side of the bench.

"I bet you don't have a clued what I'm talking about," he said with a shake of his head.

"No, I do. I went to Yale set on journalism but dropped out after my sophomore year. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I spent that time fighting with my mom and eventually went back. Then I went straight to work after I graduated even though I still didn't know exactly where I wanted to start."

She felt his gaze travel down her face, and she flushed at the thought that in the last four years, she had found a dream she wanted to pursue, and it was sitting right next to her. Quickly she finished her sandwich and crumpled up the wrapper.

"So, now you know where you're going?" he asked, his gaze following her up off the bench.

"Kinda, but not really," she said with a smile. "But I figure if I just keep walking, sooner or later I'll either get to where I'm going or I'll get somewhere else. Either way I'll know where I was headed."

In one crunch, he threw his wrapper in the trash and dusted his charcoal pants off before following her into the elevators. Unconsciously he smoothed his burgundy tie down over his gray shirt. "And that doesn't bother you?"

"What?" she asked, having seen every move he'd made without really watching him. She knew them all by heart.

"To 'keep walking'? Not having a definite destination in mind."

She shrugged. "Not much I can do about it, so why worry?" With a shove, she pushed him through the door and punched the button to the elevator. "Why, what's your burning dream? What are you so interested in chasing?"

Slowly his gaze dropped to his loafers as one hand found his pocket. Then at the next thought he looked right at her. "Not this."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: To clear up some confusion- Logan & Rory met at Yale but never dated, they've always just been friends. Logan doesn't have contact with his parents & they cut off his trust fund (thus the need for a roomie etc.) and since he majored in journalism, that was the only job he could get. Logan never thought he would be engaged, that's why it's such a big deal that Mandy left him. Sorry, I really should have explained this before! Do let me know if it's confusing & I'd be happy to answer questions. Thanks for reading :)

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Brian worked most of Saturday and was gone most of Saturday night. Sunday they spent in front of the TV watching the Packers kill the Broncos and then flipping between three other games they happened to be interested in.

By Monday morning, the depression Logan felt the week before had begun to lift. Work wasn't anymore appealing than it was on Friday, but the roommate situation had ironed itself out so nicely that it was difficult to believe the rest of his life wouldn't follow suit.

"Hey," he said, ducking into Rory's cubicle. He held up the small box in his hand. "You need a sugar rush?"

She looked up and smiled. "Sure."

Smoothly he slid into the chair, pulled out a crawler for himself, and a chocolate sprinkled donut for her and held it up. "Peace offering."

"Peace offering?" she asked as she accepted the donut and cocked her head to one side in puzzlement. "What for?"

"For the way the I've been acting," he said humbly. "I was awful last week."

"Not awful," she said and then smiled at the tell-the-truth look he was giving her, "exactly. Besides, what's a friend for if you can't cry on their shoulder once in awhile?"

He watched her bite into the donut.

"Mmm, good."

The smile in his heart spread to his face.

"So, how's the new roommate?" she asked, through the pastry in her mouth.

"Great." He kicked back in his chair still watching her. "It's like finding a brother I never knew I had."

"Cool. So tell me about him."

And he did – the landscaping, the drawings, the future plans. Everything.

"Wow," she said as the description wound around to an end. "You're going to have to introduce me sometime."

"You'd love him. Trust me." He smiled. "You have such good taste."

OoOoOoOoOo

"What's this?" Logan asked, walking in from work and pointing at the million tiny pieces of wood and trees spread across the table.

"Sorry," Brian called from upstairs just before he appeared at the top of them. "It's a model I've been working on in my room, so I moved it down here. I hope that's all right."

"All right?" Logan asked as though he hadn't considered it being a problem. "No, no it's great. What is it anyway?" He examined the miniature bridge constructed carefully in the middle of the plasterboard. "This is amazing."

"You like it?" Brian asked, sitting down at the table and laying his chin on his hands to look at the model from ground level.

"How long did that take you?"

Brian shrugged. "Couple hours so far."

Logan looked at him in disbelief and then returned to the model. "What's it for?"

"Nothing really." Brian sat up and picked up the glue and two more sticks. "I just get these ideas in my head, and they're all running around, so when I can't sleep, sometimes I get up and put them on paper or on the computer if I feel like it. Then after I get a design I like, I make a model." Carefully he set the two, glued pieces down and picked up two more. "Then when I can't stay awake anymore, I crash." He set those two pieces down and picked up two more.

"What's that?" Logan asked, nodding at the glued pieces Brian had been working on.

"A bench."

"Oh?" Logan looked back at the model and tried to figure out where the bench would go. After a minute, he sat down to look at it from ground as he had seen Brian do. Although it was barely six inches tall, he could picture the people in the little park – lovers on the bridge, joggers on the outline of sidewalk, painters, picnickers, workers. When he looked, they were all right there. "How long are you going to work on it?"

"Oh, I can clear it out now if you want," Brian instantly prepared to stack it all back together.

"No, hey," Logan said quickly, "it's fine here. Maybe we can make some burgers and eat in the living room or something."

"You don't mind?" Brian asked skeptically.

"No, I think it'll be cool to watch it come together."

OoOoOoOoOo

"And then he started whispering and talking to me in some sort of code. Seriously it was like he was on speakerphone at a methadone clinic, I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Why did Elliot want an interview with this guy? When I assured him he didn't have to speak in code he started in about phone call interception. Where do people hear these things? They must spend to much time watching the fear segment of the news and..."

Logan nodded next to her as he stared up through the trees. "You know what would look great in here?"

Her litany stopped. "What?"

"That bridge Brian was building last night."

"Bridge? Don't you need water for a bridge?"

Logan waved her off with one brush. "He can take stuff, little pieces of wood, and make the most amazing things with them. Bridges and benches and little, tiny gazebos. Man, if I had a tenth of his ability…"

Rory put her head down and gathered her pride. "I'm glad things are working out so well for the two of you."

"Yeah, me too," he said as though he too was surprised. "I wish Mandy would've moved out months ago."

She bit her lip to keep from saying she wished that too. Mandy. She'd been the bane of Rory's existence for almost two years. First it was the endless gushing about how wonderful she was and how amazing everything looked with her around, and then when things had gone sour, it was the countless nights spent in the cubicles long after the rest of the office had gone home, trying to console an inconsolable friend.

It took almost two weeks after Mandy had walked out before Logan had been able to go home before ten or eleven. He said that way he could just go home and fall into bed without turning any lights on, and he had looked like it too. Rumpled had never described Logan until then, and as Rory looked at him now, face upturned to the sunlight, she was glad he was back in the land of the living.

"Well we get another round of assignments tomorrow," she said, knowing work was at least a safe subject.

"Oh, no. Don't remind me." Instantly his face fell from the sunlight as he sat up. "You sure know how to kill a nice day, you know that?"

Rory's gaze dropped to the tops of her shoes as she pushed the hurt down with it.

"Well," he said, laying a hand on her knee, which caused her to jump. "Back to the grindstone."

"Yeah," she said as the heat of his hand burned through her gauze skirt.

"The sooner we get back, the sooner we can get the heck out of here."

She followed him up off the little bench, forcing her heart not to hurt. It was silly to get her hopes up. He would never be interested in her. Never, and the sooner she got that through her head to her heart, the better off they would all be.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Can I help?" Logan asked, cocking his head as he walked out into the kitchen.

"With the model?" Brian asked surprised.

"Sure. I built a model plane once for school."

"Have a seat."

Logan spun the chair around and sat down.

"Here." With a shove Brian pushed the little pieces of the bench across the table. "You can start with the bench."

"Okay." Logan fingered the wood. He picked up two pieces and put them together, decided that was wrong, turned them over, and decided that was wrong too. "This is some puzzle."

"Here, I'll lay them out for you." Brian examined the pieces and laid them in order in front of Logan. "That should help."

With renewed attention, Logan picked up two pieces and put them together, studied their fit, and then shook his head. "Maybe I should just watch."

"No, wait." Brian held up both hands. "I know what the problem is."

Logan laid the pieces in his hand down. "Glad somebody does."

"You need to see what I see." Quickly Brian pulled a clean pieces of paper off the pile he had to one side.

As Logan watched in amazement, the pencil flew over the paper. Arching and then in straight lines until in just a few short minutes a perfect picture of an intricate park bench was rendered on it.

"There." Brian slid the paper across the table. "That should help."

It occurred to Logan that he should say something, but the gaping of his mouth made that impossible.

"So, you work for the Hartford newspaper?" Brian asked as Logan refocused his attention on the little wooden pieces.

"Yeah." Carefully picked up the same two pieces he had held only moments before, and this time they fit together perfectly. Brian was right. He just hadn't seen the vision.

"I don't think I could sit at a desk all day," Brian said with a shake of his head. "I'd probably go nuts and kill somebody."

"There are days," Logan said, laughing as he glued the two pieces together.

"I can imagine." Brian set a tree down, looked at the model, and picked the tree back up. "You're in the corner office by now, right?"

"Oh, yeah, right. No, I lucked out. I got this great little space – just big enough to be able to beat my head on all four walls at the same time."

"Huh, give me a yard and trees any day."

"There's this little atrium at work," Logan said, looking at the tiny bridge, "I was just telling a friend of mine the other day your bridge would be perfect in there."

"So, they aren't totally without soul then – the big corporate guys I mean."

"Well, I'm not sure I'd go that far." Two pieces were now together, and he could see how flawless the workmanship n the bench was. It was nice to be a part of something beautiful. "How'd you cut this stuff anyway?"

"Very, very carefully," Brian said slowly as he placed two bushes side-by-side next to the model's sidewalk. Then he lifted his hand out and bent to get a better look. "So, tell me about her."

"Who?" Logan asked caught off-guard by the question.

"Her," Brian said matter-of-factly. "Your old roommate. What was she, your sister?"

Logan's gaze focused exclusively on the pieces in his fingers, not daring to look at his questioner or at the apartment itself, knowing full well either one would betray him. "She was just a girl I knew. We had a few kicks, and then it was over. End of story."

"Huh, you must've done a lot of shopping after she left."

"Shopping? Why?"

"For furniture and stuff."

Logan's attention transferred from the last of the glued pieces to Brian's face. "What makes you say that?"

Brian shrugged as though it should be obvious. "Well, when she left, she must've taken all her stuff with her – furniture, kitchen stuff, knick-knacks. Looking around though you'd never know you just redecorated."

The six pieces sat drying at his fingertips as Logan forced the air into his lungs willing himself not to smash them into a hundred thousand pieces. "I'm finished."

Brian looked over his arm at the little pieces. "Cool. Now, we'll let that dry tonight, and tomorrow night we can put it all together."

With a nod Logan stood and spun the chair around before stretching. "I think I'm going to call it a night."

"Okay," Brian said althought his attention was glued to the model.

Hating himself for it, Logan look around at the apartment as the anger and humiliation swelled in his chest. His fists curled as the pain screamed its way through his brain. "Night."

"Yeah, goodnight."

Once in his room, Logan flopped on the bed. Brian was right. In all the ache of losing her, he had never realized how much he had given to the relationship and how little she had put in. It was his apartment when he met her, but in eighteen months she hadn't added a single thing.

A picture of her with her backpack slung over her shoulder as she walked out his door flashed through his mind, and his heart turned over. A backpack, one, single, solitary backpack of stuff. That's all that she took with her. The rest was his, and he had never even questioned that.

Wishing his eyes wouldn't go there, his gaze traveled around the bedroom. He hadn't even had to move anything to make it look complete again. His eyes fell closed as the information flooding through them yanked the pain back on him, and he sank into the pillows, hoping that in the morning life would look better, but knowing all the while that it wouldn't.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"And then he said I must've done a lot of shopping," Logan said the next morning over donuts.

"What did that mean?" Rory asked, taking a small bite of her powdered donut.

"It means she wasn't there as much as I was. It took her five minutes to pack up her stuff and walk out that door. Five minutes. I couldn't pack up in five hours."

Rory sighed and smiled sympathetically. "You deserve better."

"I already told you, I'm not looking anymore." He reached into the box for another crawler. "Do you mind?"

She nodded as though it made no difference whether she minded or not. "So, you're just going to hold onto a ghost for the rest of your life then?"

He took a bite without saying a word.

"Look," she said, shaking her head, "this is none of my business, I knew Mandy was trouble from the start – everybody knew that but you. I'm just glad you got out when you did."

"I didn't get out," he said angrily. "She did."

"She did you a favor."

The square of his jaw line set as he glanced up at the clock. "I've got work to do."

"Running isn't going to help," she called after him, but he was already gone.

He stalked into his office and dropped to his chair. Once inch at a time his head fell into his hands. The one and only thing life was good for was kicking you in the gut while you were down.

"Don't think about her." He spun his chair and punched the keys to his computer. With two clicks of his mouse, he pulled up his e-mail. What was it Rory had said about "keep walking"? Well, that's what he was going to do. Keep walking – even if it killed him.

Thank you for all your reviews, they brighten my day!


	4. Chapter 4

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOoOoO

The model sat completed on an end table in the living room. It had been more than a month since they'd finished it, and although it really belonged in Brian's room, Logan liked to sit and look at it and imagine life lost on its endless trails, under the canopy of trees, so he had lobbied extensively for its place on the little table next to the chair.

He looked at it as he prepared for another Monday night spent counting touchdowns and yelling at the television.

"You got the popcorn?" he called to Brian in the kitchen.

"Got it."

"Hey, bring the pretzels too."

"Catch," Brian said, tossing the yellow and blue bag across the room.

Logan caught it at his head. "I think you missed your calling."

"What's that?" Brian asked, sitting down on the couch and spreading the snacks on the table.

"Quarterback for the Broncos," Logan said, tearing into the bag, "Anybody'd be better than this guy."

Although their past record didn't warrant it, the Broncos had landed two spots on Monday Night Football, a feat that neither Logan nor Brian could account for. The game and yelling began, and in the blink of an eye it was halftime, and they hit the mute button on the commentators. Their commentary was always must more interesting.

"I've got some news," Brian said, sitting back and laying an arm over the couch back.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"I met someone."

The pretzel dropped out of Logan's hand and back into the bowl. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Brian said as the smile of being newly in love spread across his face. "I met her at Club 12 last week. She's a real knockout."

"You met her Saturday?"

"No, last Saturday," Brian said, emphasizing the point with his beer. "This Saturday she showed up again in this dress that was so short..."

"I get it. I get it," Logan said, trying to make himself be happy for his friend.

"Yeah, well, this week we went back to her apartment after the place closed down. Man, she is so hot."

Logan's gut absorbed the news. "So, you're going to see her again then?"

"Yeah. We're supposed to go out Friday." Brian sat in thoughtful silence for a moment, "Where would you take somebody if you really wanted to impress them?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, I'm still pretty new around here, remember?"

New didn't mean a whole lot, Logan thought, he was old around here and had only been to Club 12 once – with Mandy. He shook that thought away as he reached back into the pretzel bowl. "You have a date?"

"Yeah," Brian said as his face scrunched in thought, "but we never really said where – we were kinda busy."

Slowly Logan shook his head and then nodded. "Passport."

"Passport?" Brian asked, puzzled.

"It's…" Logan cleared his throat as the pretzel started down the wrong pipe. "It's this little place out by Cheshire Bridge. Dark corners, real romantic, that kind of thing."

"Oh," Brian said with a nod, "Sounds perfect."

"You'll need reservations," Logan replied.

OoOoOoOoOo

"You told him to take her to Passport?" Rory asked in disbelief as they sat in the atrium the next afternoon.

"I know, I know. But he caught me off-guard," Logan said, laying his head in his hands. "Now I'm going to have to hear about how wonderful their date was at Passport. Of all places. Ahh!" In one motion he sat back, throwing his head back as he went. "How stupid could I be? Of all the places… sure, take her to Passport."

"It'll get easier," Rory said as she shook her head and laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

"When?" he said angrily. "You keep telling me that, and it's still not happening. Is it me? Or is that just something people tell you until the next time your heart gets stomped on, and then you get to start all over again? This is why I should never do relationships, ever."

"Not all girls are heart stompers."

"Oh, yeah? Well, all the ones I've ever met are."

"Well maybe you just haven't met the right one yet."

"Yet. You make it sound like there's going to be a next time."

Rory took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as her hand slid from his shoulder. Ever-so-gingerly she stepped to the edge of reason. "Look, I know you don't want to hear this, but it might help if you get out and start dating again."

"Dating?" he asked as though the word was akin to hell. "No way."

"You don't think you'd be happier if you found someone…"

"No. I don't." He stood and smoothed his tie and slacks. "Dating is for pitiful idiots who still believe there's one right person out there. Well, you know what? I found her, and then she left, so basically, even if I believed all that crap, what's the point now?"

Her heart sunk as she watched him walk to the door where he stopped and turned back to her. "You coming?"

Fighting not to let the feelings running through her make their way to her face, she stood and walked over to the door, willing him to just keep looking a little bit longer.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"So how do I look?" Brian asked, jumping down the bottom step and holding his hands out at his sides.

Logan barely looked up, "She'll be putty in your hands."

Brian smiled. "That's what I like to hear." He grabbed his coat off the chair back and checked his hair one more time in the mirror by the door. "Don't wait up."

"Don't worry," Logan said with an annoyed laugh. "Now get out of here before I strangle you."

Brian flashed him one more smile and then made a quick exit. Once he was gone, Logan exhaled in frustration.

"Ah, great, a whole night with the television." He flopped down onto the couch and grabbed the remote. "How is it that I always end up here?" As he was beginning his third trip through the channels, the phone rang. With the remote still flipping channels in one hand, he picked up the phone with the other. "Hello."

"Hello, you."

The smile spread across his face unbidden. "Rory."

"I just thought you might be looking for some company other than your television set."

"You know me to well."

"Yeah, well, that's one of the hazards of the job." Her side of the line went silent.

"And why is it you're calling?"

"Well, I was just thinking that since we've already shared breakfast and lunch together today, I just wondered if you wanted to make it three-for-three."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Chinese? I could pick it and be over in half-an-hour."

"You're a lifesaver."

"So I've been told. Spicy chicken, right?"

"You know me too well."

OoOoOoOoO

When the doorbell rang, he pulled himself off the couch and strode to the door, opening it without bothering to check the peephole.

"Okay, I'm thinking I don't like that roommate of yours at all," Rory said, striding into the apartment without even being asked.

Logan stood with his hand on the doorknob watching her for a moment. "Why's that?"

"What's it been like two months since I've invited myself over?"

"Something like that," he said, sitting down at the table and putting his chin on his hand as he watched her.

"I got you spicy chicken and spicy beef. You look like you need a little variety in your life." She set the steaming box in front of him and pulled out two sets of chopsticks. "You still know how to use these, right?"

He nodded as a smile involuntarily spread across his face. She was without a doubt the best friend he'd ever had.

OoOoOoOo

"Who was here last night?" Brian asked Saturday morning as he put away the clean dishes in the cabinet.

"What makes you think somebody was here?" Logan asked innocently.

Brian walked over to the trashcan and pulled out two empty Chinese food boxes. "Two."

"You notice way too many things," Logan said in annoyance. "You're not working today. What's up with that?"

The look on his face said that Brian noticed the change of subject, but he went along with it anyway as he put the boxes back. "November, all the grass is planted, flowers don't grow outside, so there's not much to do."

"Ah," Logan said with a nod. "Seasonal work."

"If he was smart, he'd contract with some hotels too. Maintain their inside terraniums and stuff, that way in the winter, he'd still have work."

"That's what you'd do?" Logan asked, knowing the businessan in Brian was always looking for the angle.

"It's the only smart thing to do. Otherwise, you've got to lay-off half your staff over the winter and then try to get them back in the summer. Either that or retrain everybody every year, which makes no sense whatsoever."

"So, what are you going to call this incredible business of yours?"

"Easton West Landscaping." Brian stopped drying and grinned at Logan. "That's a joke."

"Oh, yeah, I knew that," Logan said, still trying to figure out where the joke was.

"I don't know. Easton landscape?"

"Too boring."

"Landscaping by Easton?"

Logan's look said that was worse. "How about Easton Design and Landscaping, We design and plant your dreams."

"Hey, I like that. You should do this stuff for a living."

"Yeah, I came up with one catchy tag, send me to Madison Avenue. I'm sure I could find some floors there to sweep."

"You could do worse."

"Oh, yeah? How's that?"

"You could come to work for me."

"Now there's an idea. Easton and Huntzberger Landscaping."

"No, I said work _for_ me. I own the business, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot."

The kitchen was successfully cleaned, and with a snap of the light, they headed for the living room.

"So, you going out tonight?" Brian asked as he sat on the couch and pulled a tool magazine from the rack.

"No. You?"

"Yeah, me and Mandy are going to 12 again." Brian turned one page, then another. "I could really use one of these power edgers."

"Oh, yeah?" Logan asked, not hearing a word as his breathing hitched. Mandy? There were probably hundreds of Mandys in Hartford. Hundreds.

"I'm going to have to start building up my tool supply if I hope to get extra work during the spring."

"Extra work?" Logan asked, hearing just enough of Brian's side of the conversation to throw something back at him. In a panic, he pulled a magazine out of the rack and started flipping through it.

"I figured I could get a job or two on the side. Get my name out there, you know. Got to start somewhere."

Logan's hands continued paging although he didn't see a single thing.

"How about you?" Brian asked. "You got something on your wish list for Christmas?"

"Tools?" Logan asked, looking up with unseeing eyes as he fought to regain his footing on solid ground. "No, I don't get into tools much."

Brian's face furrowed in confusion. "Then why are you looking through my magazine?"

Logan looked down, and for all the pleading with his brain, he couldn't focus on the object a foot from his face. In one motion he stuffed the magazine back into the track and stood. "I'm really tired."

"It's 10:30 in the morning," Brian said, puzzled.

"I had a long night," Logan said and then immediately regretted it when he saw the look on Brian's face. "Got to go."

He took the stairs two at a time and once in his room, he had batting practice with her name – Mandy. Mandy. Mandy. There was something about that name that sent his heart racing. It wasn't her, but still. She was a part of him. An integral part, and from his vantage point out his sixth story window, she always would be.

OoOoOoO

"Okay, calm down," Rory said Monday morning when he'd dragged himself bedraggled and sleep-deprived into her cubicle. "How many Mandys could there possibly be in Hartford?"

"Only one that I know of," Logan said miserably. "What am I going to do?"

"Okay, first of all you're not going to panic," she said logically. "The chances that his Mandy is your Mandy is like one in ten million."

"Oh, yeah? Where did you come up with that number?"

She scrunched up her nose. "I pulled it out of thin air. But listen to me. You've got to get yourself together. I mean, Brian's going to take one look at you and find himself a different apartment."

"Yeah, hers."

"Logan. Come on. Listen to yourself. Did you ask if it's her?"

"What am I supposed to say, 'I think you're dating my ex-fiancée?'"

"That would be a start," she said completely at a loss as how to fix this.

For a brief second his face lifted and then fell again. "Nope. Can't do it."

"Well then, your only other option is to wait and find out."

OoOoOoO

It only took until the next Friday night to confirm the nightmare he had suddenly wandered into. He'd been in his room only a few minutes when he heard them come in downstairs. The door slammed and his nerves scattered. Slowly the book in his hands slid to the bed as his feet slipped to the floor.

Noiselessly he tiptoed to the door and laid his ear against it. Voices but nothing definite. Slowly, slowly, he turned the knob and eased the door open. He could hear them clearly then.

"The apartment's great," she was saying in that tone that always made him feel like the most important guy in the whole world.

Unconsciously he laid his head against the door and drifted off into a daydream with not Brian but him downstairs with her.

"You want something to drink?" Brian asked from the other side of the room.

"What you got?" she asked, and her voice moved across the room to the kitchen.

For a moment the voices faded into the kitchen and then in a heart-beat they were back.

"This is so much better than that noisy ol' club," she said.

In his mind, Logan could see her as she sat on the yellow couch and twisted her legs under her, and his heart turned over.

"Yeah," Brian said as his voice faded out. "Much better."

Logan's heart constricted as he forced himself to close the door, quietly fitting it back into its frame. He stood there, hand on the doorknob fighting for every breath. It was obvious she had moved on. He stood there, knowing there was not one thing he could do to alter the state he now found himself in.

He was trapped. When he turned and leaned on the door, his gaze immediately fell on the phone. In a flash he had it in his hand, and in less than a second the other end was ringing.

"Hello?" her voice came.

"It's her," he said in utter despair.

"Logan?"

"They're downstairs."

"Right now?"

"On my couch. They are making out on my couch!"

"Oh, boy."

"My ex-fiancee is making out with my roommate on my couch and all you have to say is 'oh boy!'"

"Crap?"

"Yeah, that's better. Oh, my God. What am I going to do?"

"Are you sure it's her?"

"Rory."

"Right, of course you're sure. Okay. Okay. Let me think. Where are you right now?"

"My room."

"Do they know you're home?"

"Well, I didn't exactly go skipping down the stairs to greet them. No, I don't think so."

Her side was silent for a moment. "The fire escape's on your window isn't it?"

He looked at the window in trepidation. "Yeah, but it's only for emergencies."

"Hello!"

The plan was looking better and better all the time. Seriously, running from a girl. Logan had never, ever, pictured himself shimmying down the fire escape to get away from a girl. "But where am I supposed to go? It's 12:30 for God's sake."

Without more than a second's pause, her voice softened. "You could come over here."

That stopped him. In all the time he had known her, he had never been to her place – not even once. "Your place? Are you sure?"

"You're in trouble," she said matter-of-factly. "When a friend's in trouble, you do whatever you can to help them out."

"Even this?"

She didn't say anything for a long moment. "I think I'll live." Quickly she gave him the directions.

He smiled, momentarily forgetting the disaster downstairs as he wrote them down. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

Read? Review please.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you all for your reviews, I love hearing what you guys think! And I apologize for my typos & grammatical mistakes -nothing bothers me more in a story than that- but I just can't seem to get rid of all of mine...

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOoOo

The light, freezing rain spattered against Logan's car windshield as he drove through the streets that were still crowded with cars. It had been months since he'd been out at this hour. The second that thought crossed his mind, he pushed it away again. Thinking about that time, about her, only brought a picture of the couple currently occupying his couch.

His car streaked through the streets. Deftly he crossed two lanes of traffic, turned onto a side street, and then into a parking space in front of Rory's apartment. Pulling the collar of the shirt he wore up, he ran up to the door and buzzed 217.

"Ace, I'm here," he said the instant the speaker crackled to life.

"Come on up," she said.

He pushed into the warmth of the small lobby and headed for the stairs. It was true he had never been here before, and in a few seconds, Rory opened the door with a smile.

"Hello, you," she said as though his visit was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hi," he said, ducking in embarrassment as his toe made circles at their feet.

Her face creased in concern. "Where's your coat? You're soaked."

"It was downstairs," Logan said simply.

"Here." She took hold of his arm and pulled him into the apartment. "Take your shirt off; I'll throw it in the dryer. At least the top of you can be semi-dry." Without waiting for his protest, she walked into her kitchen. "You want coffee or hot chocolate."

"Hot chocolate. I don't have the Gilmore tolerance for late night coffee," he said, shrugging out of the shirt.

"I've got apple cider, too, if you want that."

He held up the shirt as it dripped onto her carpet. "Actually that sounds good."

"Okay."

The cup in the kitchen clinked when it touched the cabinet followed in seconds by the slam of the microwave door.

"Oh, here," Rory said, holding a hand out for the shirt as she walked back into the room.

He stood there awkwardly in his sleeveless t-shirt, and when she took his shirt from him, he jammed his hands into his pockets. She disappeared down the hallway, and he heard the dryer start. In seconds, she was back.

"There's a blow-dryer in the bathroom," she said when she came back. She pointed back down the hallway hesitantly.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," he said never quite meeting her gaze as he ran his hand through his thoroughly saturated hair.

"Yeah, okay. Well you could sit down." She pointed to the couch and then back into the kitchen when the microwave dinged. "I'll just be…"

He nodded as she turned for the kitchen. In trepidation, he looked at the couch, and although it was old, he had to admit it looked much more stylish than his yellow one. He sat down, hoping his pants wouldn't soak the fabric.

"Here you go," she said, returning with a cup of steaming apple cider. At the chair, she stopped and turned on the television. Carefully she handed him the cup and then smiled softly. "You need anything?"

"Umm." He looked down at himself and closed his eyes wondering how he'd gotten here. This was a far cry from the Yale Logan. "No, I think I'm good."

She nodded, and the look in her eyes said she knew he wasn't. "There's an afghan…if you're cold. You like the classics?"

"Whatever," he said with a shrug as he relaxed into the softness of her couch and pulled the soft blanket over his still-wet skin. He took a sip of the red liquid and slowly its warmth spread through his body.

With no other questions, she curled into her chair as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers danced across her television screen.

OoOoOoO

When the movie was over at two o'clock, Rory looked over at him, and her heart took its little skyward trip. He didn't look comfortable, but he was still absolutely gorgeous. The muscles of his arms and chest flowed with each breath, and for one moment, she allowed herself to fantasize about curling up in those arms and sleeping there all night.

The television announcer came on startling her back into reality, and with one flick the television went silent, but he never moved. Softly she stood, picked up his cup, and took it to the kitchen. She rinsed it out and set it in the drainer. Her hand brushed the light as she walked back into the living room, and suddenly the room was plunged into darkness except for the small shafts of light from outside her window.

Noiselessly she made her way down the hallway to the closet where she pulled out another afghan her mother had given her. She ran a loving hand over it and then walked back down the hallway, feeling his presence in her place as though it was actually palpable.

At the couch, she unfurled the afghan and gently laid it across him. When she tucked it in behind him, he stirred, and for a moment, she thought he might wake up. But then he went still again, and she stood, simply enjoying the opportunity to watch him sleep. With his cheek resting on his hand, he looked like his whole life was absolutely perfect.

"Goodnight, Logan," she whispered to the darkness. "You'll get through his. I promise."

And then although she didn't want to, she turned back down the hallway to her own room.

OoOoOoOo

Logan awoke to the sound of the coffee pot beeping the next morning and then he heard her footsteps in the kitchen. Slowly he stretched and yawned. He certainly hadn't meant to go to sleep, but somehow when the strain from the night before had dropped away, he hadn't had the strength to stay awake

Silently he stood as the maroon and blue afghan fell to the floor at his feet. With a grateful smile, he picked it up and folded it before laying it on the couch. For a second his hand stayed on it, feelings its warmth again. Then he straightened the other one across the back of the couch and leaned onto the doorframe sheepishly, not knowing how to thank her for the night before. "Morning."

"Morning," she said, smiling brightly. "You hungry?"

He shrugged and the noticed the box of donuts sitting in the middle of the table. "Crawlers?"

"Just for you," she said, pouring the coffee into two mugs and bringing them to the table as he sat down. She set the cups on the table and sat down for a split second before jumping up again.

His gaze followed her up and over to the refrigerator where she pulled a small carton out. Without looking at him, she brought it back to the table and set it down next to his cup.

In confusion, he picked it up, opened it, a poured a little cream into his coffee. "I thought you didn't like cream. Something about it ruining a perfect cup of coffee."

"I don't," she said, sitting down and glancing at him only once, "but you do."

The gratitude washed over him like warm cider on a cold, bleak night. "I should tell you thanks for last night," he said as he reached for a pastry. "I don't know what I would've done without you."

She shrugged. "That's part of being a friend." Her hands wrapped around her coffee cup as she examined the coffee it held. "So, what are you going to do?"

He fingered his own cup and shook his head. "I don't know. I mean it's not illegal for him to date her. They're adults and free adults at that."

"So you're not going to tell him?"

He sighed as the futility of the situation crowded in around him again. "I don't see how that would help anything." He shrugged. "I can't forbid him to see her."

"But how are you going to deal with that? Her in your apartment? You can't keep climbing down the fire escape every time she decides to visit. Sooner or later, you're going to have to face her."

"Yeah," Logan said, not looking forward to that meeting at all. Then he smiled hopefully. "Maybe they'll break up, and I won't have to worry about it."

Rory cocked her head as her face registered annoyance.

"I know wishful thinking," he said softly.

"I'll say." She shook her head as she took a drink. "You could always move."

"Move?" he asked sarcastically. "Where?"

"I don't know." She took another drink as the smile spread across her face. "I'm sure if you ask around, someone must be looking."

He smiled at the reference as his gaze dropped back to his near-empty cup. She was teasing; there was no need for an answer.

They sat in silence, lost in their thoughts as the morning sun streamed into the kitchen. Despite the worrisome thoughts about his own apartment, he leaned back in his chair enjoying the fact that for this moment, life seemed utterly normal and not at all complicated.

Here in her kitchen, he was just Logan, she was just Rory, and they were just friends. For the moment, it was all he wanted from life.

OoOoOo

An hour later standing in the middle of her living room, he slipped into the shirt she handed him. The warmth of it just coming out of the dryer cycle she said would take the wrinkles out wrapped around him. He sighed as he closed the distance between them and laid his hands on her shoulders. "Thank you. You're the best friend a guy could ever ask for."

"Anytime," she said not meeting his gaze.

Gratefully he folded her into the warmth of his shirt and laid his cheek on her hair. "If you ever need anyone, I'm here for you. Okay?"

"Okay," she said softly into his shirt, and they stood like that for one more moment. Then his hands pulled her shoulders back again. He stared into the blue of her eyes as his hand reached up and smoothed out her straight hair. "You take care."

"You too," she said, totally unable to look away from him.

He smiled and nodded. Then his hands dropped from her shoulders and he took a hesitant step back from her. "I'll see you Monday?"

"Monday," she said with a nod.

"Okay," he said, backing to the door. "Monday." Clumsily he grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the door open before escaping into the hallway. Once the door had closed behind him, he leaned on it as his heart pounded in his chest. "It's just the mess at home. It's making me crazy."

Defiantly he pushed away from her door and took the steps down quickly. The sunshine outside was as warm as November sunshine gets. The puddles on the sidewalk were the only reminder of the gloomy rain-sleet storm the night before. That and the dull trepidation in his heart as he thought about going back to his apartment. Sooner or later, he had to face it… or move. He smiled at that thought even as Rory's smile crossed back through his mind.

OoOoOo

It seemed like forever had passed before Rory was able to regain enough sanity to move from the center of her living room again. Her hands wrapped around her arms as the electricity from his touch reverberated through her. If only this wasn't about him needing a shelter. If only it was for real.

Lost in the tight grip of the trance his eyes and touch had caught her in, she turned for the kitchen and picked up his cup from the table. She remembered the first time she had seen him at Yale. His smirk as she met him at the coffee cart with his arm around a blonde girl. They had never dated at Yale; Rory was unwilling to put herself on his list. And then the shock to find they were both working at the Courier after graduation. He had come to her rescue that time. That memory brought a smile to her face. She'd only been at work two days when it happened, and already her desk was stacked two feet high with papers and notes until it was becoming clear that she might never see the light of day again.

And then, the unthinkable. When they'd given her the cubicle, no one had bothered to mention the fact that one leg of the desk was holding on by only one splinter. She could still see her chair turning, the arm catching the edge of the desk as it probably had a million times since then but with one sickening thud a cascade of paper, pens, monitor and keyboard had slid away from her.

In her ears her own screams still echoed as the lunged for the computer and found herself sliding halfway down the desk until she was draped over it, clutching the gray box with absolutely no way to get up.

He was the first one there and she couldn't remember ever being so glad to see anyone in her entire life. Right there as he helped regain her balance and pick up the river of papers and computer parts scattered across her office, she knew he was the one. Like a lightening bolt, she knew, and she had spent every waking moment since then trying to convince herself that it was only the relief at being rescued by him that made her heart feel like it did.

To love someone meant that they felt the same way and he obviously didn't. The picture of him sleeping on her couch the night before flashed through her mind as she picked up the folded blue and maroon afghan from the couch cushions. With one breath, she pushed that thought away. It was enough to be his friend. That's all he wanted and she would be happy with that. She had to. She had no choice.

OoOoOoOo

"You just getting home?" Brian asked from the stairs before following Logan into the kitchen the second he walked through the door.

"Umm, yeah," Logan said off-handedly, running a hand through his now-dry hair as he walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.

"Chinese food girl?" Brian asked, leaning against the cabinet expectantly.

Logan didn't answer; instead, he reached into the refrigerator and moved the jelly out of the way. "I was thinking about going to the store later." He pulled the milk carton out and poured himself a glass before putting it back. "If you need anything, I can pick it up."

"You're going to have to introduce me sometime," Brian said with a knowing smile.

"She's just a friend," Logan said with a shrug.

"Yeah, a friend you spent the whole night with."

"Well, how about you?" Logan asked before he thought better of it. "How was your date?"

The instant he sat down in the living room chair, he wished he had simply taken his milk to his room and found something to do there. Nonchalantly he picked up the remote and punched the button, liking the noise of the television. For good measure, he turned it up two notches.

"Good," Brian said, seeming to jump into the black hole of memories with the word. "I'm taking her out to the Max tonight."

"Oh, that's nice."

Spaceships raced across the television screen, their jet drafts drowning out all other sounds and rendering any further conversation pointless.

OoOoOo

Logan thought about calling Rory, but he couldn't lean on her shoulder every night. One way or another, he was going to have to do this on his own. Brian had left several hours before, and since then, Logan had watched television until his mind was mush.

Fighting the depression threatening to overtake him, he grabbed his coat and headed outside. He wasn't going anywhere really – just away from the emptiness of his life.

The night was clear and cold and the lights of the surrounding buildings cut through he darkness like a knife. There was no such thing as a pitch-black night in the city, and for that, he was thankful. There was enough pitch-blackness in his heart to go around.

His feet kicked down the sidewalk, and he pulled the old, brown bomber jacket closer. As he let his thoughts drift, he was surprised to find them trip over Rory instead of Brian and his date. He smiled at the thought of her. A picture of her draped helplessly over her desk waltzed across his mind, and he laughed.

She never ceased to make him smile even through the whole ordeal of losing Mandy…Mandy. He smashed into the name and his eyes closed against the pain. Rory was right. If he didn't get out and find himself a life, he was simply going to wither up in the pain and die.

With that thought, he turned his steps up the street. It was time to get on with his life. With or without Mandy.

Read? Review please!


	6. Chapter 6

I'll be busy for the next couple weeks – leaving town, a job interview & going back to school etc. so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. But this chapter is extra long to make up for it! Thank you for all your reviews!

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOo

Logan paid the cashier at the door as the lights swirled around him. Noise and people. That's what he needed. Lots and lots of new people. A girl in a white leather micro-miniskirt sauntered by him, and his gaze followed her. Yes, this was exactly what he needed.

He leaned toward the bar and laid a casual arm on it. "Scotch, please."

The bartender nodded before setting a glass down. He took a long drink as the lights spun around him.

"Is this seat taken?" a leggy blonde asked at his elbow.

"It is now," he said, turning to her as she smiled and slipped onto the barstool.

She leaned into his space after turning the stool around so she could watch the dancers. "You new here?"

"Kind of."

Her head bobbed in time with the music so that he couldn't be sure if she was acknowledging his statement or simply dancing to the music.

"You want to dance?" he finally asked after three more drinks of the scotch.

"Sure," she said, sliding off the stool with a smile.

By the time he left the bar at three a.m., he barely remembered anything other than the blonde who still hung on his arm.

"You shouldn't drive," she said, surveying him.

"Oh, yeah? What should I do?"

"Well, my ride left awhile ago, so we could take your car over to my place, and you could crash there for awhile."

"And how do I know you won't take advantage of me?" he said with a smirk.

"You don't," she said seductively as they reached his car.

In one alcohol-saturated breath, he turned on her and pressed her against his door, crushing his lips to hers. She didn't struggle to get away. In fact, her body wrapped around his, yielding to his hands with no question. When his lips dropped to her neck, she pushed him away gently. "We should go."

He let her lead him around the car, deposit him in the front seat, and slam the door. Quickly she went around to the driver's side and climbed in. "Just relax, we'll be there in five minutes."

OoOoOo

The sirens somewhere below him brought him back to consciousness as he blinked against the pounding in his brain. "Ugh."

One muscle at a time, he looked around, realizing instantly that he didn't recognize a single thing. It was then that he looked down at himself. He felt the sheet on every part of his body, and he slowly turned and looked across to the other side of the bed. Blonde hair fanned out in cascading patterns off a bare white shoulder. In disbelief and disgust, he closed his eyes and shook his head.

Being very careful not to wake her up, he pulled the blankets away and reached down to the side of the bed for his clothes. The first rays of sunlight washed the room in soft purple, but as he fought with his pant leg, he realized it wasn't the light outside – the walls were actually purple. This was why he always left in the middle of the night.

On the stand beside the bed lay his keys. Carefully he stood and without bothering to put on his shirt, he grabbed the keys, and stepped toward the door. Candid shots from the night before flashed through in no recognizable order. A short miniskirt, blonde hair, a dance floor swirling with lights.

He took one more look at the figure on the bed before quietly picking up his jacket from beside the doorway, opening the door, and stepping out into the hallway. He vaguely remembered the parking lot, but for all the searching of his mind, he couldn't clearly see the face of the woman who had obviously done more than just drive him home.

As he ran through the living room, he yanked his shirt on and then his jacket, knowing no matter how many layers he put on, they would never cover up last night. Once on the street below, the cold wind met his face, and he breathed in stale, musty air that was still lodged in his lungs from the night before. Forcing his legs to stay under him, he walked to his car parked next to the curb.

In one motion he was in the front seat with the motor roaring beneath him. He pulled into traffic, fighting with his brain to stay with him long enough to figure out where he was so he could go home.

When had things gotten so totally out of his control? Was it when Brian had shown up on his doorstep, or was it months before when Mandy had walked out the same door? Or maybe it was even farther back when she walked in. His heart turned over at that thought. He certainly hadn't been in much better condition that first night with Mandy.

In fact, their first few months were one big blur of alcohol, clubs, and each other. Only after Rory had pointed out how perilously he was living, did he come to his senses and cut out at least some of the partying.

As he rolled to a stop at a stoplight, the thought hit him that it was then that Mandy had started pulling away. It was only because he had chosen to propose that she had stayed around so long. The car rolled through the intersection. Looking at the whole situation in a much clearer light, he saw that Mandy wasn't about settling down. Mandy was about partying until your head spun off your shoulders or you wound up dead in some ditch. He had done that in college, he was tired of it now. He'd much rather hang out at home and have a drink with friends.

The farther he drove, the clearer the last two years of his life became. He saw her begging him to take her out clubbing even though he simply wanted to stay in and relax. His memories wound around to seeing her skulking down the stairs that last night.

"You're acting like you're 90!" she'd yelled at him.

"Well, you're acting like some idiotic teenager."

He saw the anger shoot from her eyes.

"That's it."

"That's what?"

"I can't take this anymore." In slow motion he watched her walk back up the stairs.

"What does that mean?" he yelled up the stairs after her.

In what now seemed like only seconds, she appeared at the top stair with her bag tucked firmly under her arm.

"I said, 'What does that mean?'" And now he could hear the fear in his voice although at the time, he'd thought there was only anger.

"It means you are not my father, and now, you're not my boyfriend either." With that, she had slipped the ring off her finger and placed it in his hand.

In a panic, he looked down at the ring as she walked past him to the door. "Mandy, wait."

He shook his head at the memory. Why did he want her to wait? They obviously wanted different things from life. She wasn't ready to settle down, and he wondered now if she ever would be.

The car turned into his parking lot and then into a space as he killed the engine. His head was pounding and doing everything in its power not to remember the night before, but it was right there, and somehow he knew it always would be.

However, for the first time in four months, he knew he would be all right again. He felt sure he could see Mandy now, and it wouldn't utterly destroy him. That, in and of itself, made life today worth living.

He climbed the steps to his apartment being careful not to jar his head anymore than was necessary. At his door he took a deep breath and steeled himself for whatever might be on the other side.

However, when he pushed through the door, the apartment was completely silent. Thankfully, he locked the door behind him and climbed the stairs. His bed was going to feel very, very good.

It wasn't until he reached for his doorknob that he heard Brian. "You just getting in?"

Logan turned and met Brian, bleary-eyed just coming out of the bathroom.

"Yeah," Logan said, running a hand through his hair, knowing how he must look.

Brian shook his head slowly. "You're really going to have to introduce me sometime."

OoOoOoO

"So was Mandy there or not?" Rory asked Logan Monday afternoon under the canopy of trees as his story, sans the mystery woman's apartment, wound to an end.

Logan shrugged. "I don't know. By the time I got up again, it was just Brian."

"And you didn't ask him?"

"No, I figure the less I know, the better."

"Well, what happens when you walk in on them making out on the couch?"

"I'll just say, 'Hi, Mandy, nice you decided to visit again,' and then I'll go up to my room."

Rory shook her head in exasperation. "This isn't funny."

"No," he said as peace flowed through him. "It's life. Remember that thing you told me about going out and getting again. Well, I did, and it feels good."

Wordlessly she balled her wrapper up and tossed it into the trash. "Well I'm happy for you, I guess."

"You guess?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "There's a resounding vote of confidence."

She exhaled as her fingers gripped the bottom of the bench. "I just hope you're not kidding yourself."

"Kidding myself? About what?"

"About being over her."

"Wait a minute," Logan said in bewilderment. "First you think I should get over her, and then when I do, you think I shouldn't get over her so fast."

"I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did."

Rory spun her head so that her hair swung around her head. "I'm just saying I want you to be honest with yourself. Don't get over her because I said to, and don't lie to yourself about it either. You're just setting yourself up for a bigger heartache later when you finally do meet up with her."

Defiantly he rolled his wrapper into a ball and threw it over her head. "First of all, you give yourself far too much credit. Second of all, she's leading her life, I'm leading mine. It's not going to kill me to see her again."

"Even if she's with Brian?" she asked skeptically.

"Even if she's with Brian."

OoOoOo

It was the Friday after Thanksgiving when he had his first chance to test his newfound peace. Brian had gone to his family's place to celebrate, and with his parents in visiting family in New York, Logan had opted to stay home with a turkey TV dinner and football. Not that he would want to spend Thanksgiving with his family anyway.

In fact that's where he was when he first heard the sounds at the door. Puzzled he looked over to it and immediately froze. By the time his brain registered what was happening, it was too late to react.

"Hey, Logan," Brian said, following Mandy into the living room as Logan stood on rubber legs. "We're not staying, I just had to get my other shirt."

Logan stood, nailed to the floor, as they stared at each other. Logan disappeared up the stairs.

"Hi," Logan finally said after several full moments of silence.

"Hi." Mandy pursed her full lips together and then smiled tightly. "Umm, how are you?"

"Fine. You?"

"I'm good."

He smiled softly. "I'm glad."

Brian came flying back down the stairs pulling his coat back on. "I'm sorry. I completely forgot to introduce you two. Logan, this is Mandy, Mandy, Logan."

Logan would never have believed the composure he now exhibited but he held his hand out to her and shook hers politely. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," she said, smiling what he interpreted as a grateful smile. As soon as he dropped her hand, she turned to Brian and ran her arms around his back. "We should be going."

"Yeah," he said to her, and then he turned to Logan. "We'll be back late. Don't wait up."

"Have fun," Logan said from the spot where he still stood.

"Oh, we will," Brian said from the door just before pulling it closed.

Slowly Logan sat back down in the chair as the commentators continued their obnoxious banter. One step at a time he made his way down into the feelings rushing through him.

Relief was the overriding one, but there was also a sense of tranquility and a solid belief that he would, in fact, be all right.

OoOoOo

"I don't know what to say," Rory said, and he felt the softness of her gaze slide over his face.

"Mandy made sense for that time in my life, but that's not what I want anymore."

"Oh, yeah, and what do you want now?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Something real. Someone I can talk to, someone who looks good with or without a strobe light going, someone who fits with me." He leaned back on the bench and gazed up through the tree limbs. "Someone who make me feel good about my strengths, and helps me work on my weaknesses without rubbing them in my face." When he closed his eyes, the peace came over him again. "So, do you think she's out there?"

It was several seconds before she answered. "Yeah, I think she is."

"I hope so. I just wish I knew where to find her."

"Well, maybe you're looking in the wrong direction," she said softly.

He opened his eyes, and his gaze slid over her small features. "Oh, yeah? What direction should I be looking in?"

Slowly she shrugged. "I think you're going to have to answer that question for yourself."

OoOoO

A different direction. He had thought about her words most of the night. But what other directions were there? The nightclub scene was pointless and seemed only to lead to heartache and pain. There was work, but besides Rory, he didn't know all that many people there – none that he'd ever consider asking out. He thought about asking Rory if she knew someone, but he quickly dismissed that idea. She might send him to Dave's other cousin, and then he and Mandy would end up in the same family. There was a frightening thought.

He was still thinking the next morning when the alarm went off at five-thirty. "All major businesses will be closed today as well as all the schools. The snow is making it hazardous to…"

With one swipe, Logan hit the off button and slid out of bed. He reached out and pulled the blinds down with one finger. Instantly the blinding whiteness from outside stung his eyes to the cornea.

He let the blinds go and without bothering to put a shirt on, he walked out the door and down the stairs where he found Brian dressed in workboots and over-warm clothing.

"Where are you going?" Logan asked, puzzled.

"Time to shovel walks," Brian said as though this was the opportunity of a lifetime.

"Oh, yeah? Where?"

"Everywhere they'll let me."

Logan shook his head. "Why?"

"You come to people's aid in their desperate times, they remember you come spring," Brian said confidently.

"Oh," Logan nodded as he walked to the table and sat down.

"I'll see ya," Brian said with a slight wave.

Just as Brian reached the door, Logan looked up. "Hey, you want some help?"

OoOoO

Never. Not one day in his whole life had Logan been so sore. A hot bath, three aspirins, a heating pad, and Sports Cream – nothing had made one dent of difference.

"Man, wasn't today great?" Brian asked, handing Logan a beer from the refrigerator.

"Great," Logan started to say, but finished with, "Oww!"

"Did you see how grateful they were over at the hardware store? They couldn't believe it."

"They weren't the only ones," Logan said, tipping the bottle to his lips.

Brian fell to the couch. "If I could just arrange it so we'd have a dozen more of these storms, I'd have all the work I wanted come spring."

"If you arrange a dozen more of these storms, I'm moving."

"Oh, come on. You can't tell me didn't enjoy that," Brian said, his chest rising and falling with excitement.

"It was okay," Logan admitted as much to himself as to Brian.

"Yeah, uh-huh. I saw the way you smiled at old Mrs. Roselli when she said you'd be perfect for her granddaughter."

Logan smiled at the thought.

"That's what I thought," Brian said with a nod. "See, it feels good to be out there doing something that doesn't involve staring at a computer screen all day. Tell the truth."

"Okay, it was fun." Logan set the bottle next to his chair. "Just remind my body of that tomorrow morning when it's sitting at that computer again." He sat up and tried to stretch his back, but the effort itself sent screaming pain through his entire body. "I must be insane."

"That's part of the fun," Brian said with a smile. "Man, I hope it snows more tonight."

The next morning it wasn't two-feet of snow Logan found himself facing, it was six-feet of slush. City trucks had been out all night pushing the snow into the center of the streets so that big, glacial, icebergs were the only things visible down most streets. Traffic moved at a crawl all the way to Mitchell street, which itself was a maze of the brown-white ice stacked all along the sidewalks and curbs.

Carefully he turned into the parking lot and checked the clock on the dash. 8:14. He was late, but he was here. That was an accomplishment. He crawled out of his car and walked to the elevator as he folded and unfolded his fist, trying to work out the stiffness from work the day before.

When he reached his floor, he sauntered into the maze of cubicles and stopped by Rory's with a slap on the wall, but just as his wise remark about skipping school made it from his brain to his lips, he realized she wasn't at her desk. With a shrug, he walked the three more steps to his own cubicle and sat down at his desk to start a new day.

Logan listened for her all morning, but her cubicle was deathly quiet, and something in the pit of his stomach said he should be concerned that, which, of course, was silly. She had probably just chickened out on coming in. Not that he blamed her. He wished he had stayed home too.

Then he reached across his desk and his arm screamed in pain. Quietly he laughed. He was probably safer at work. Brian had left early this morning with two sacks of salt, a shovel, and a smile. Logan sighed. It must be nice to have a definite purpose in life.

"Here you go," Elliot said, striding into Logan's cubicle and dropping a stack of paper onto his desk.

"What's this?"

"The stuff for the features section."

"Features? That's Rory's department."

"Yeah? Well, she won't be in the rest of the week, so now it's your department."

Logan's concern leaped into his gut. "She won't be in?"

"She fell yesterday." Elliot shrugged. "Something about her ankle." Then he turned to leave. "Oh, yeah, I'll need a rough draft before you leave."

Logan looked down at the stack without seeing it. The second Elliot disappeared around the corner, Logan picked up the phone. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four. He was debating what message he should leave as the answering machine picked up.

"Rory? This is Logan."

"Wait!" she yelled just as an ear-splitting squeal cut right through her word. "I'm here. Just a second."

The squeal stopped short, and Logan shook his head to get his ear to stop ringing.

"Logan?" she asked with concern.

"Hi," he said suddenly at a total loss for words. "Umm, what're you doing?"

"Doing? Well, I'm sitting here in my pajamas watching three talk shows at the same time."

"Three? Now, that takes talent."

She laughed, and then her side went quiet as he stumbled through words he didn't know how to say.

"Do you need something?" she asked slowly.

"Oh, no. I…, umm, I mean, Elliot just told me you hurt your ankle or something. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, sounding slightly annoyed. "I guess I didn't hear about the whole city being closed yesterday, so I went in to work. When I got in, they sent me home, but I should've just stayed there, I would've been better off."

"What happened?"

"Oh, I fell going back up the steps to my apartment. Twisted my ankle good."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'll live, but I won't be walking on it for awhile."

"So, what, are you on crutches then?"

"Mostly I'm on the couch."

He laughed. "Watching talk shows."

"You've got it."

He thought about her couch and smiled. "Well, do you need anything? Can I bring you something?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I mean you sure don't need to be going out for groceries or anything."

"I'll manage."

Logan considered that for a moment. "Well, okay. If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"But if…"

"Logan!"

"What?"

"I'm fine. Now get back to work before you get fired."

He looked back at his computer screen wishing he didn't have to hang up. "Well, you'll call me if you need anything?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Promise?"

"I promise," she said with a laugh couched in the middle of the annoyed tone. "Now, get back to work."

They signed off, but as he hung up the phone, his gut told him things were not right. He thought about picking up the phone and calling her again, but he knew he would just get the party line about her being fine.

At that moment Elliot walked past his door.

"Hey, Elliot!" Logan yelled, jumping up.

"What?" Elliot asked, stopping.

"I'm going to work through lunch so I can get out of here early."

Elliot shrugged. "Beating the 5 o'clock home. Smart move."

Logan just nodded. He had somewhere to go, but it wasn't home.

OoOoOoOoO

The bags of Chinese food banged against his leg, and he fumbled with the gladiola-carnation bouquet in his other arm as he tried to reach her ring in button without dropping anything. He looked back down the slush-covered steps and wondered about her accident. It wasn't to difficult to see how a person could hurt themselves if the steps were the least bit icy.

"Yes?" her voice on the intercom said, startling him back to reality.

"Rory, it's me."

"Logan? What are you doing here?"

"Can I come up?

"Sure."

He heard the lock click and carefully he pushed through the door. By the time he climbed the flight of stairs, his coat was already becoming uncomfortably warm. It was funny because only the day before he had been so cold he'd thought he would never be warm again.

At her door he knocked and waited a moment before knocking again.

"Just a second!" he heard her call from the other side. "I'm coming."

When the door swung open, he took one look at her and was instantly glad he had come. "You look awful."

"Gee, sailor take me now," she said, hopping backward, each hop sending waves of pain across her face. She gripped the doorknob fighting to keep her balance.

He took one more look at her and walked past her into the apartment. "Where do you want these?" He held up the bouquet.

"There's a glass in the cabinet." Slowly she hopped twice pushing the door ahead of her.

"No vase?"

She shook her head as she closed the door and then hopping over to the couch. "I don't really have a use for one."

"Oh," he said, watching her as she carefully sat down and then gently pulled her leg up to the coffee table. His attention zeroed in on the swollen balloon that at one time had been an ankle. "Jeez, Ace, what did you do?"

"It was really dumb, trust me," she said, leaning aback and closing her eyes as the pain carved its way across her face.

He shook his head, glad that he'd decided to make this trip over to check on her. Not wanting to stare, he walked into the kitchen and rummaged through her cabinets before pulling a tall glass out and filled it with water. "Where are your crutches?"

"What crutches?"

"Your crutches." He set the flowers in the water and brought it back out to the living room where he set the bouquet on her television. "The ones the doctor gave you."

"Oh," she said as she examined the front of her pajamas carefully. "I didn't go to the doctor."

He stared at her in disbelief. "You didn't…Are you kidding me?"

Off-handedly she shrugged, "I didn't really have a way to get there, I mean with the snow and everything."

"So you just didn't go?"

"I'm okay."

However, one glance at her ankle told him she was definitely not okay. "Then we're going to go now."

"Now?" she asked, looking up in surprise. "No, it's not that big of a deal. I'm sure I'm…"

But he had already disappeared down her hallway.

"Where are you going?" she called after him.

It took him only two tries to find her bedroom. "You'll freeze if you wear that. Where are your sweats?" He opened her closet and quickly found a sweatshirt that looked comfortable.

"Logan, you really don't have…"

"Sweats," he said again from the end of the hallway.

"Top, left drawer," she said as the exhaustion and pain echoed through her voice.

"Here you go." He strode back into the living room. "You get changed and I'll put dinner in the refrigerator."

"You don't…"

He turned on her, the concern feeling a little too much like anger. "Change." He waited one more second to make sure she was going to comply and then he turned to the kitchen. Dinner would have to wait.

"Wrap your arms around my neck," he said, bending down to her car door at the minor emergency care clinic, as tiny, new snowflakes wound down around his head.

Her heart was pounding so hard, she had no doubt he would be able to feel it against his chest even through six layers of clothes. "This is silly."

He narrowed his gaze at her and she knew it was useless to argue.

"Fine." Carefully she wound her arms around his neck and like a breath, she felt herself lift from the car seat, and then she was floating. If it weren't for the unbelievable pain screaming through her ankle with every miniscule bounce, this very easily would've been the most perfect moment of her life.

He shifted his hold on her gently before looking down at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said although the sound barely made it past her throat.

Carefully he pushed her door closed and made his way across the parking lot seeming not to even notice her weight in his arms except that his steps were slow and measured as not to jolt her anymore than necessary. The icy patches scattered across the parking lot would've tried the patience of a monk, and yet to Rory it looked like Logan would walk through a minefield of ice patches to get her to that door.

Just as they got to the door, it opened and a small woman with a child's hand securely tucked in her own walked out. She held the door and smiled at Rory knowingly as the crossed in front of her. Embarrassment scorched across Rory's cheeks as she ducked into the scratchy wool of his coat.

At the desk he bent and set her on the ground gently but his hand never moved from around her waist. She wasn't sure if it helped or not because his cologne made her head swim, and when he was this close, it was difficult to think straight enough to keep her balance on a normal day.

"May I help you?" the receptionist asked.

OoOoOo

The clock on the wall wound around to eight as Rory's eyes fell closed, and her head dropped forward. Instantly he laid his arm over her shoulders and pulled her head to his shoulder. Pain can sap the strength out of the toughest of people, and she had been living with this pain for more than twenty-four hours. He thought back to the fun he was having the day before as she sat by herself in her apartment fighting the pain.

She should've called. He would've come over yesterday. Snow or no snow. He would've found a way to get there.

"Miss Gilmore?" the nurse called from the door.

"Ace," he said, wishing he didn't have to wake her up. "Hey, they're ready for you."

Sleep-blurred eyes looked up at him, and he smiled softly. "Come on. Let's get this over so we can go home."

OoOo

Her head felt like it weighed a ton as it fell back against the headrest in his car. She looked back at the pharmacy doors, and one small part of her smiled even as the majority of her berated herself for it. A twisted ankle she could handle, a broken heart was another matter entirely.

He was just being a friend. What had she told him, "That's what friends do for each other"? Well, that's all this was. A friend helping out a friend. That and nothing more.

However, her heart slammed against her chest the second it caught sight of him emerging from the store, ducking his head against the swirling snow, and hurrying across the parking lot. Deftly he opened the car door, stowed the crutches in the backseat, handed her a small brown sack, and slid into the seat.

"Man, it's freezing out there," he said, shaking himself off and then reaching for the starter. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, wishing the aching of her ankle wasn't taking up all her brain power. It would've been nice to have a few extra mind cells available to concentrate on remembering every detail of this dream come true.

They rode back to her apartment in silence, and once there, he helped her onto the crutches and across the parking lot. However, at the steps it was immediately obvious that if left to her own defenses, they would be making another trip to the doctor this evening.

"Here," he said, scrunching his eyebrows together in concern.

"No, I can get it," she said as embarrassment at her helplessness overtook her rational side.

"Yeah, and we'll probably both end up on the concrete." His gaze burned its way through her skull. "Here." He took her crutches from her and squared his body with hers. Gently he lifted her and shifted her only once before he looked at her. "Got it?"

She nodded. It was the only motion other than the jack hammering of her heart that her body could manage. Slowly, carefully he carried her up the steps, into the apartments, and then up the second set of steps. At her door he set her on the floor and kept his arm on her waist to steady her as unlocked the door.

"Here," he said, offering her the crutches, which she positioned and then ducked her head before swinging herself into her apartment.

Not once during the whole ordeal did she picture him following her in once she got back home, but he never so much as looked back down the stairs.

"Why don't you have a seat? I'll get dinner going and get you some water," he said as thought following her in as the most natural thing in the world.

"You really don't have to do this."

"Hey, don't feel too sorry for me, I'm only microwaving." He smiled ruefully. "Now, sit."

Rory sat wishing she had the strength to argue, but the second her body found the couch, she was glad he hadn't left. She heard the microwave whir to life and her stomach turned over. She hadn't eaten more than a few bites all day and her stomach suddenly registered that fact.

"Water," he said, reentering the room and offering her the glass and then opening the bottle of painkillers. "One or two?"

"One," she said, picturing herself passed out on her own couch with him cooking dinner in the kitchen.

He handed her the yellow pill and stood back as she swallowed it and the water. The microwave dinged and he looked back at the kitchen. "Don't go anywhere."

"Yeah, like I might sneak out and go dancing when you turn your back."

His gaze was serious although just underneath it was the trace of laughter. "I wouldn't put it past you." Quickly he turned and went to the kitchen.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she called in annoyance.

"It means," he said returning with the steaming plate of almond chicken in hand, "I can't believe you didn't call me yesterday."

She shrugged as she accepted the plate and chopsticks. "I was fine."

"Fine." He nodded sarcastically. "Yeah, right." He disappeared back into the kitchen only to emerge a few minutes later with his own plate. "Tell the truth, you weren't planning on going to the doctor were you?"

"I don't know. It was icy. Besides how was I supposed to get to my car? Fly?"

An exasperated growl emanated from his chest. "You could've called."

"And ruined your whole day of watching TV?" she asked, forking the food into her mouth. "I figured you deserved the day off."

His laugh sounded heartier than it had in months.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"I wasn't watching TV. I was shoveling walks."

"Shoveling walks?" she asked, choking on a sliver of almond. "You?"

"Yes, me."

She leveled a disbelieving eyebrow at him.

"Me and Brian," he said defensively. "You can even ask him. We worked all day. Shoveled like 30 walks between the two of us."

"Why?"

His shoulders reached for his ears. "Brian did it get his name in good with the people. I did it cause it sounded like something different."

Slowly her eyes narrowed at him. "I can't picture you shoveling walks."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not really into manual labor. I've known you for years and never once have I seen you shovel anything."

"How do you know?"

"You didn't even water the plant I gave you last year 'cause you thought you might get dirty."

Unconsciously he smoothed the tie on his chest. "That's at work."

Outwardly her attention returned to her plate, but inwardly she was picturing him shoveling walks, and she liked the way that picture looked. "So, tell me about this shoveling thing. Brian did the work and you supervised, right?"

"Actually, you would've been proud of me." A smile spread across his whole face, and she could see the pride of accomplishment shining from his eyes. "We started at the hardware store and worked our way around the block and then back around the other block. It was dark and freezing when we got back home, but it was so cool. Brian says during the summer we might start mowing lawns together."

"Mowing lawns?" she asked in disbelief.

"He figures we can get ten at least – to start with anyway."

"To start with?"

"Yeah, we can work at night and on the weekends – at least until he can get enough going that he can quit."

Quit. Somehow she hadn't see that wall until she smashed right into. Her gaze dropped to her plate. "And you?"

"Oh, I won't quit for another couple of years anyway," he said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Unless things go a lot better than he's projecting." He set his glass down on her end table. "You should see all the stuff he as. Business plans all mapped out, by the day, the months, the year. It's unbelievable."

"I didn't even know you liked lawns."

"Neither did I," he said as his gaze drifted far past her apartment walls, "but it was fun out there yesterday. You never know, I might be a lot happier than doing that than pounding on a computer and answering phones all day."

"Yeah," she said unenthusiastically digging into her rice. "You probably would."

Review please, it'll make my day!


	7. Chapter 7

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoO

"This really isn't necessary," she said the next afternoon wishing he had just gone into work. Somehow the prospect of having him around all day had overridden her sane side that said she should insist that he go home – even if he didn't go to work.

"The doctor said this is the best way to bring the swelling down," he said, carrying a pan of water sloshing through ice into the room and setting it at her feet.

"I think it's going down."

"Yeah, uh-huh," he said, nodding sarcastically, "and I'm the King of England."

"You could be," she called as he returned to the kitchen. "Maybe you were misplaced at birth. Wouldn't that be something."

"Irish, German and a little bit of French," he said, returning with another pan from which steam swirled with each step he took. "Trust me, no English."

He knelt down at her ankle and gently unwrapped it from the bandages, which she'd also felt were unnecessary, but she didn't have the guts to argue with the doctor. Logan, however, was a different story. "Maybe we could do this later– like tonight?"

"Like never?" he asked with a knowing smile as his hands loosened the wrappings.

"If that could be arranged," she said hopefully.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner it's over," he said firmly. "Now, which one do you want first?"

"Neither," she said, staring at the pans filled with polar opposites of torture.

"Which."

She exhaled, wishing she could trade bodies with someone else for the next thirty minutes or so. "Cold."

Gently he lifted her foot and slowly set it into the ice cold water as she sucked in a chest-full of air. Her pain screeched across her face. "How's that?"

"Do you really want to know?" she asked as her body scrambled upward away from the constricting pain in her leg.

"Probably not." He pushed up from the couch and grabbed the remote before punching the button, not really trying to find anything more interesting than Charlie Brown's Christmas special. The concern was scrawled in huge arching letters in his eyes. "How you doing?" He laid a sympathetic hand on her thigh.

She nodded even though all she wanted to do was scream.

"Good." He sat watching her, never once turning his attention to the television screen. "You've only got two more minutes."

Her eyes closed against the pain as she fought the tears. She would not cry. Not here. Not in front of him. She would be strong. She had to.

"Okay, time to switch," he said after her teeth felt like they were going to crush each other to bits.

With strength constructed solidly over resolve, she pulled her foot out of the ice water and angled it carefully over the pan that was no longer steaming. In miniscule inches she let her foot down, but the second it touched the warm water, her body arched itself backward and a scream jumped from her core.

"It's okay," he said, and even his tone said he knew it wasn't. "Just put it in. It'll get better."

"No." In a breath tears were flowing down her cheeks although she had no idea how they had gotten there. "Please."

Linus played his toy piano on the screen as Logan rolled onto his knees. "Here, hold my hand." He stretched one hand out to her as the other guided her foot into the pan. "Squeeze if it hurts."

She told herself she was ready for the pain, but when her foot touched the water again, her knee immediately jerked it back as her hand tightened on his.

"Just put it down," he commanded, forcing her foot into the water. "Just put it down. Don't think about it."

But thinking about anything else was impossible. The prickles of ten thousand tiny pins jammed into her foot as she fought with herself to keep it in the water. Her shoulders hit the couch back as her free hand crammed itself into her eyes.

Only Charlie Brown's voice echoed through out the room as slowly her senses began to return.

"Only three more minutes," Logan said at her side, and instantly her hand tightened on his in anticipation of the coming agony. "Two more times and we're finished."

Every breath clawed its way into her lungs through the tears, searing through her chest like an out of control wildfire.

"Okay," his voice said somewhere outside her. "It's time."

If someone had said it was time to be put into the electric chair, she was sure it wouldn't have held any more fear than the idea of moving her foot into the ice.

"There you go," he said, guiding her foot to the other pan.

It touched down, sending her body reeling on the pain. The only lifeline was the hand she clutched to her.

"It's okay," he said, and she felt his free hand stroking across her arm. "It's almost over."

When he finally relented and pulled her foot out for the last time, she felt like her foot had been in water for an eternity, she was surprised when she came back to her sense and realized that Charlie Brown was still whining on the television.

"Good girl," Logan said, producing a towel and cautiously drying her foot. "I really didn't think it would be that bad."

"Yeah," she said, trying to laugh off the worst torture of her life now that it as over, "You're not the only one."

Carefully he set her foot down on the pillows on the coffee table, and he looked at her. "Can I get you something?"

"Do you know where my painkillers are?"

He smiled and pushed himself to his feet. In a heartbeat he was back, offering her a pill and water.

"Thanks," she said, accepting them.

"May I?" he asked, indicating the couch next to her.

"Sure," she said with a shrug.

Gingerly he sat down, and then he slid next to her before focusing that concerned look on her again. "You okay?"

She exhaled slowly and then nodded. "Yeah, just no more torture tonight. Okay?"

"Deal," he said, and his voice reflected her pain. "Here." He draped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her head over to his chest.

She couldn't be sure if it was the painkillers or relief from the torture session being over or his cologne or being so close to him or all of the above or none of the above, but the instant her cheek found the soft cotton of his shirt, all the pain slid away from her. Peace and safety flooded through her, and before Charlie Brown had finished his romp across her television screen, she was asleep.

OoOoOo

Logan didn't move from his spot underneath her until the band began playing on the late night talk show. Smoothly he shifted her over to the other side of the couch and stood. In the darkness with only the television screen for illumination, she looked absolutely at peace. The exact opposite of earlier. Carefully he picked up the pan of cold water, took it, and dumped it into the sink before repeating the procedure with the once hot water pan.

Just as he was about to go back in the living room, however, his gaze chanced on the phone, and his mind stumbled across Brian. In all the excitement over trying to get her taken care of, he had somehow forgotten about his roommate. Although Brian probably hadn't even noticed Logan's absence, he knew he should at least call so Brian wouldn't think he'd been hit by a truck or something.

Quietly he picked up the phone and pulled it as far into the kitchen as he could get it. The phone rang only two times.

"Hello?" Brian's voice came across the wires, not a trace of sleep anywhere in it.

"Brian, hey," Logan said, turning his back to the living room. "It's Logan."

"Logan? Where are you, man?"

"A friend of mine had a little accident. I'm kind of staying with her until she gets back on her feet again."

"Oh. This wouldn't be mystery Chinese food woman would it?" Brian asked, shifting from worry to teasing effortlessly.

"Don't worry about me," Logan said, hearing her soft moan in the living room, "I'll be home when I get there."

"Okay," Brian said, and Logan knew from his tone that Brian suspected far more than a minor accident. "Oh, and Logan, don't eat too much Chinese food."

"Yeah, whatever," Logan said in annoyance, and then signed off quickly. Even the thought that he could want more than friendship from Rory was utterly ridiculous. She wasn't his type. She had the wrong coloring and the wrong personality and the wrong interests. She came from a different world. He was from the high society set of Hartford and she was from small-town Stars Hollow. No, the only three things they had in common were they both went to Yale, Chinese food and the arbitrary fact that they both happened to work at the Hartford Courant. Besides that, there was nothing.

OoOoO

By Saturday, Rory was moving like an expert on the crutches and although Logan had assured her that he wouldn't burn her kitchen down, she insisted on watching him make dinner.

"What do you need?" she asked as he hunched over the recipe lying on her counter.

"Flour."

"Freezer, side door," she said, pointing past him.

After only the briefest of searches, he found it and set it on the counter before opening her refrigerator. He pulled out the eggs, a few carrots, and some celery as well.

"How's the chicken?"

She lifted the pot lid. "Looks ready to me. 'Course I should probably warn you that I don't cook."

Quickly he set the items on the counter, lifted the pot lid, checked the chicken himself, and nodded. "I'll do the noodles, why don't you cut the vegetables?

"You're going to trust me with a knife?" she asked with a smile.

"You can handle it," he said as he opened a drawer and handed her a dicing knife. The questions of how he knew which drawer to open crossed her mind, but then she remembered that he'd spent far more time in her kitchen in the last four days than she had.

Without even asking, he pulled the cutting board from the small cabinet to the side of her sink and set it on the counter for her. Fighting not to notice how easily he moved around her kitchen, she focused on the carrots. She had three chopped before she looked over at him. "How's this?"

He looked over and surveyed her work. "Great. Do two more."

"Okay," she said, liking the weight of his arm as he leaned across her to examine her work. If only every night could be like this one. "So, do you cook a lot?"

"Sometimes – if the moon is full and the tides are out on the East Coast." He was paying more attention to her than to the bag of flour he held over the bowel, and it suddenly decided to give way – covering him in a cloud of white dust. "Ugh!"

A laugh escaped from her throat before she had a chance to pull it back. Logan standing in her kitchen in a cloud of flour was too much. The giggles continued as she choked them back, but every time she looked at him, they attacked her again.

"Would you like a towel?" she asked, pressing her laughter behind her lips. "Or a soaker hose?"

"No, thanks." He shook his hands out as though they were dripping with water. "I'll just use you."

Before she had a chance to react, he wiped both hands down the full length of her sleeves. The giggles lodged in the electricity from his touch, and her breathing stopped.

"See, better," he said, not noticing her trip through fantasyland. "Now, where was I?" he turned back to the noodles although the white dust followed him right back to the bowel. Carefully he scraped up the excess flour from the cabinet and dumped it back into the bowel. "So, what about you. You said you don't cook?"

"Not unless I absolutely have to. My mom doesn't either, I grew up on junk food and take out."

"You never ate anything homemade?"

"Nah, we've got friends that take very good care of us. Sookie, one of my mom's best friends, taught me how to cook a few things. Mostly easy stuff." She turned back to her vegetables knowing she really shouldn't be trusted with sharp objects in this condition. Quickly she picked up the pot lid. "Hand me a plate."

Automatically, he reached in the cabinet above him and pulled out a plate.

"Nothing like this," she said casually even as she made sure their hands didn't touch in the transfer.

She pulled the chicken out of the broth and laid it on the plate before tossing the carrots into the boiling mixture. "But I am the queen of takeout, as you well know."

In a matter of minutes, the diced vegetables were in the broth. "Now what?"

"You can start on the chicken," he said with a node before he leaned down on his shoulder to brush the flour off his cheek.

"So, what do you make – on a full moon…"

"…when the tides are out on the East Coast?" he asked, amused. "This soup is one of my specialties. I make a mean shrimp spaghetti too. One of the cooks I had growing up made it for me all the time."

Her face scrunched in revulsion. "That sounds awful."

"It's really pretty good," he said as he separated the last two noodles and began placing them into the simmering pot. "You'll have to try it sometime."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass." She laughed as she ate a piece of chicken that had stuck to her fingers. "Mmm. Pretty good."

"Told you," he said triumphantly. "Just wait, one of these days, you'll be saying that about my shrimp spaghetti."

OoOoOo

The remains of chicken noodle soup sat between them as she chanced a glance at him knowing the question in her mind had to be asked. It was wonderful having him around, but it couldn't last, and she knew it. "So, when do you think you'll be going back home? Brian probably thinks you went AWOL."

Logan sighed as he toyed with his spoon. "No, I called him the other night. He knows where I am."

"Oh?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I told him I was taking care of a friend. No big deal."

Rory's gaze dropped to the table as embarrassment stung the back of her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure you can't wait to get back home and stop taking care of me, the invalid."

"No," he said, looking up quickly, and then his gaze fell again. "I mean, yeah. I mean, I didn't think I'd be staying this long."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

The silence surrounding them grew like an elephant neither one wanted to acknowledge.

Finally Logan stood as her gaze followed him up. "I'd better get these dished cleaned up."

"Umm, you want some apple cider?"

"Sure," he said with a shrug.

He carried both steaming cups of cider into the living room and waited for her to sit down. Without touching her hand, he gave her the cup and turned to sit in the chair. The silence invaded the space as Rory fought the fatigue tugging at her eyelids.

"This is nice," Logan said, sipping and then simply letting the warmth of the cup wash everything else away. "Do you do this often?"

"A lot. Especially during the winter. It relaxes me."

"Yeah." Without putting the cup down, he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

"Umm, Logan?"

"Yeah?" he asked nonchalantly.

Her gaze slid down his profile in the lamplight. "Umm, if I forget to tell you later…thanks."

For a single moment he turned his head, and his gaze locked with hers. His smile came effortlessly. "You're welcome."

OoOoOo

Tuesday morning she limped into his cubicle – her foot wrapped and her pride tucked neatly behind a wall full of cheerfulness, "Hello you."

"Well, the dead has risen," he said, leaning back in his chair happily. "How's the ankle?"

"Better." She held out her arms. "No crutches."

"Congratulations," he said with a smile. "So, I guess this means you'll take the features back."

Slowly she smiled and shook her head in mock annoyance. "Yeah, I'd hate to think how many things got messed up while I was gone."

"Hey. I did a good job. Right down to the last sentence."

"Uh-huh," she said teasingly, "We'll see."

Later as she reviewed the articles he had kept up on for her, she smiled. It was work, she reminded herself. He was supposed to do this – picking up the slack when a coworker was out. But still something in her heart said she was grateful to him for more than a trip to the doctor, a little chicken soup, and a bucket of ice water.

Somehow she would find a way to pay him back for everything he had done for her. Her gaze slid from the paperwork to the calendar on her desk. Christmas. It was only two weeks away. She would have to get him something amazing – something better than the dumb ebony statue she'd been too afraid to sign her name to the year before. Something to thank him for being the best friend she'd ever had. Something he would never forget.

A/N: I know some people are getting frustrated cause Rory & Logan aren't getting together, but it'll come. Eventually. We've got a long way to go – they still haven't come up with their plan yet (that's coming soon, I promise!). Thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for your reviews!

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOo

From over the kitchen cabinet where he was just finishing up, Logan heard the front door open and the voices enter the apartment.

"Make yourself at home," Brian said in the living room. "I'll just grab a quick shower and change, then we can go."

"Okay," Mandy said in that syrupy sweet voice that still crawled right under Logan's skin. "Don't keep me waiting too long."

There was a long moment of silence as faded humiliation and envy seeped into Logan's chest. It was ridiculous, but one small part of him still wished that he was the one out there with her.

"I'll be right back," Brian said, and Logan heard the low tone of desire in his voice.

Pushing back the jealousy, Logan looked out the window onto the darkening skyline. The thought of disappearing into the night seemed like a very good idea at that moment; however, that thought had barely made it all the way across his mind when he heard her footfalls on the tile floor behind him.

"Oh, hi," Mandy said, the first word registering surprise, the second, something entirely else.

"Hi." He ran the cloth over the counter, not bothering to turn enough to truly acknowledge her presence, but still he felt like an animal stalking its prey.

"It's been awhile," she said, walking right to his side and leaning against the counter, her hip only inches from his elbow.

"Yeah, it has." In one motion he flipped the rag into the sink with a sarcastic laugh. He needed to put more space between them so he stepped over to the trashcan closet and busied himself with putting the dishwashing soap away and straightening the shelves.

Mandy, however, was never one to take a hint. Slowly she sauntered over to the wall next to the closet door.

"I just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings," she said, lowering her voice, and Logan couldn't decide if it was so Brian wouldn't hear or if the flirtatious note he heard was actually lilting around the edges of the soft words.

"Nope, no hard feelings," Logan said, backing out of the closet awkwardly and wishing his gaze didn't fall on her bare midriff learning against his counter. Quickly he went back over to the sink and washed out the rag.

"That's good," she said, and the heat in his chest told him just how closely she had followed him. "I was hoping you weren't mad."

At that moment he felt her hand on his shoulder, and then it slid slowly down his back to his waistline. How many times had this very scene played out at this sink? How many times had he turned, pinning her to the opposite counter, pressed his lips and body to hers, knowing every move she would make and that they would find themselves hours later somewhere in the apartment locked in each other's panting embrace?

"I've missed you." Her hand clasped around his waist, and he drank in a ragged breath as he felt the familiar tug of her hand.

His veins pulsed with a heat that he couldn't be sure was all anger. Uncomfortably he shrugged away from her. "Mandy."

"What?" she asked as though the preceding seven months had never happened.

"It's over. Remember?"

"It doesn't have to be." Her gaze pulled his in one link at a time.

"What?" he asked, blinking, taken totally off-guard by her forwardness. "You're going out with my roommate."

"Convenient," she said, running her hand across the middle of his back. "Don't you think?"

"Hey." In absolute disbelief he spun away from her. "Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, but I'm not interested."

"No games? You don't want to have a little fun for old time's sake?" The deep brown of her eyes that Logan had fallen so deeply in love with now caused only extreme revulsion when he looked into them.

"No." He pulled both arms away from her. "I don't want to have a little fun with you. I don't want anything to do with you."

Without taking his hands down, he slid down the counter past her and escaped into the living room.

"Well, you don't have to get all weird on me," she said, sounding absurdly hurts as she followed him step-for-step into the living room.

The tone of her voice swung him around in one step, and his gaze traveled over her as the last thread of desire he'd ever felt for her snapped in two. Word he wanted to scream raced through his head, but just before the fist one jumped from his lips, motion on the stairs caught his attention.

"I'm ready," Brian said as Logan took a cautious step backward. Brian took the rest of the stairs in one continuous motion, a smile plastered across his face. "Did Logan tell you we're going into business together?"

Mandy crossed her arms in front of her as her bleach blonde mane fell across one eye. "No, he didn't mention that."

"Easton and Huntzberger Design and Landscaping," Brian said as he walked over to Mandy and draped a protective arm over her shoulder. "You'll have to see the model we did sometime."

"Yeah, I'll have to," she said, gazing at Logan with a look that made his dinner crawl up his gut.

It was obvious by the way Brian was looking at her that he didn't hear the undertone in her words or see the brown eyes still taunting Logan, teasing him, flirting with him.

"Well, we'd better get going," Brian finally said.

Instantly Mandy turned those same eyes on Brian as Logan's stomach turned over. How many times had she been flirting with someone else seconds before he'd been captivating her heart? Thinking about it made his heart pound.

The two of them walked to the door where Brian pulled his jacket off the chair. "See ya later, Logan."

"Yeah, see ya." Logan swiped a magazine off the couch and turned to the chair.

Brian opened the door, and Mandy sauntered out without so much as a glance back at Logan.

"Don't wait up," Brian said with a sly smile, and then the door closed behind them.

"Don't worry," Logan said sarcastically.

OoOoOo

"I can't believe she had the audacity to come on to you with him upstairs," Rory whisper-shrieked in horror as Logan sat across from her on Monday morning.

He was proud of himself. He hadn't called her the whole weekend. Several times the phone had been in his hand, but wit superhuman willpower, he had forced himself to stand on his won two feet and deal with his latest development – at least until the moment he had walked past Rory's desk ten minutes ago – and keeping the whole ugly scene to himself had flown away like a flock of startled birds.

Logan shook his head as the kitchen scene replayed itself in his mind. "I hate to think what she would've done if I'd said, 'Let's go.'"

Rory's face scrunched in disgust. "Oh, jeez. Let's not even go there." Then the concern slid over the revulsion. "So, what are you going to do?"

Slowly Logan shrugged. "What can I do? He's in love with her. What am I supposed to say, 'Brian, you're in love with a psychopath?'"

"It'd be the truth."

"He wouldn't listen to me," Logan said with a helpless shake of his head.

"Why not?"

In one breath his gaze caught Rory's and held. "Come on, Ace, you of all people know the answer to that question. How many times did you try to tell me the very same thing, and did I listen?"

Her mouth moved, but nothing came out.

"No," he answered for her solidly, angrily. He pushed up from the chair and stepped over to the wall. "I'm telling you, it's hopeless. He's not going to listen to me. My only hope is that he figures out what he's all about before it's too late."

Rory's gaze fell to her hands folded on her desk. "Yeah. Let's hope that happens sooner rather than later."

Logan exhaled. "No kidding."

OoOoO

The next night as they hunched over the progression of a backyard landscape model that hope evaporated.

"You can start on this side penciling in the stone walk," Brian said, laying the colored pencils next to the project.

Logan looked at them in well-disguised panic. "Which ones should I use?"

"Let's see, peach." Brian pulled a pencil out of the stack. "And pink." He pulled another one out. "And white and gray." One-by-one he lined them up on the table as Logan watched him carefully.

Slowly Logan picked up the gray pencil. "So, what are you going to do for Christmas?"

"I'm taking Mandy home with me," Brian said, and the smile shone through the words. "To meet my parents."

"To Denver?" Logan concentrated on filling in the small circles although his mind escaped into the kitchen unbidden. "Sounds serious."

"It is." Brian carefully glued the pieces of picket fence tighter. "If they like her as much as I do, I'm going to ask her to marry me on New Years."

The pencil in Logan's hand streaked across the walk. "What?"

Every corner of Brian's eyes were shining. "I bought the ring yesterday after work."

"Whoa, Brian. Are you sure?"

Brian set the picket fence off to the side and consulted the computer printout of the model. "I've never been so sure of anything in my entire life. She's it. The ying for my yang. The missing piece. The other half of my heart. The one that will complete me."

"I didn't know you weren't complete." Logan's gaze fell back to the penciled walk, and for a moment Brian came back from the fantasy he'd floated away on.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I'm afraid I do," Logan said, hating the pitch of his voice.

"Oh, don't worry, it won't be until at least summer. Mandy says she loves summer weddings."

That much Logan already knew. He swallowed the kitchen scene under the smile he forced onto his face as he looked up. "Well, I'm happy for you."

OoOoO

"Oh Lord. Please tell me you're kidding," Rory said the next morning as Logan sat across from her, sheet-white and as tense as he'd been the morning after Bubbles had walked out on him.

"I wish," he said softly.

She watched him rubbing his hands together, and her heart fell. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Ace," he said in utter despair. "I don't know. God this is a mess."

There was no argument from her side. It was indeed a mess. "Well, maybe he'll change his mind…" But the look on Logan's face stopped her. "Okay, it was a thought."

"I've got to do something." The chair seemed to launch him out of it. "There's got to be a way to stop him from going through with this."

Rory watched him take two steps over to the wall as wheels of her brain spun. "What if you got him to look in another direction?"

Logan's gaze sliced through her, and she ducked her head and pretended to sift through the papers on her desk.

"I'm listening."

She shrugged. "If you can get him to look at someone else, maybe you can convince him to reconsider his decision."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Logan asked, every word butcher knife sharp.

"I don't know," Rory said as her hands continued sifting although her mind registered nothing her hands were doing. The anger and hurt crashed through her. "It was just an idea."

She wanted to help him, but she knew that nothing she ever did or came up with would be enough to make him understand how much she truly cared.

"I'm sorry," he said, sliding into the chair in front of her desk. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

The smile she forced onto her face felt more like a grimace. "I know."

"Huntzberger," Elliot said from her doorway. "It's past eight."

"Yeah," Logan said, turning instantly. Then he turned back to her, but all she saw was the blur of his pressed pale blue shirt as he stood. "I'll talk to you later?"

Wordlessly she nodded, afraid to trust her voice. Without looking up, she knew he had walked out. The weight sitting on her heart lifted, pulling the tears up with it. Slowly she slid the top drawer of her desk out and picked up the white envelope that lay there. Her fingers slipped the card out of the envelope as hot tears clouded her vision. Angrily she swiped away the only one that managed to escape.

'You are my friend

The one I laugh with,

Cry with,

Love'

Wishing her hands wouldn't betray her, she watched as they opened the card to where she had written her message the night after he had left her apartment.

'Logan,

Sometimes taking a risk with a friend is better than playing it safe with strangers, what do you think? You and me? Maybe? Sometime?

Merry Christmas.

Love always,

Rory.'

As though she was tearing her own heart in two, she turned the card to the side, and ripped it in half. Logan would never see her that way. He never would. If only she was like Mandy, tall, beautiful, blonde – forceful. But there had never been a forceful bone in Rory's body. In fact, every bone in her body seemed geared to only one thing – pain.

Slowly she pushed the envelope and card to the back corner of her desk. A gift basket would be better. Fruit or ginger ale or donuts. Something safe. Just like she was. But for one, brief moment, she wanted with every particle of her being to be something other than safe. Something other than boring Rory who sat at home every night, and had rarely been seen by anyone other than a friend. Just for one moment, and then she could go back and relieve that moment for the rest of her life, and she would be happy.

OoOoOoOoO

"I've been thinking about your plan," Logan said, rolling his orange down his arm and popping it into the air as they sat under the canopy of trees later that afternoon.

"My plan?" Rory asked, biting into a chip. "What plan?"

"You know, the one about getting Brian to look in another direction?"

"Oh? What about it?"

"Well, I think it could work if we found the right person."

Her heart jumped at the word 'we', but she beat that thought back down. "You have somebody in mind?"

"Yeah." He examined the fruit in his hands.

"Who?" she asked before taking a long drink of Sprite.

He pushed his thumbs into the center of the fruit as juice slid down the sides of his hand. "You."

The gasp that engulfed her body pulled the sticky sweet liquid down into her lungs, and she doubled over as her throat choked on the substance. The coughs racked her chest as she fought to find fresh air.

"You okay?" he asked with concern when she looked at him, the tears of being strangled by Sprite glinting in her eyes.

"Umm," she coughed again. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good," he said happily. "Now, here's what I think. We get Brian to bump into you – set it up so he does. Then after he's bumped into you a couple times, you say something like, 'This must be fate.' Then you invite him out."

The choke that jumped to her throat at that suggestion had absolutely nothing to do with Sprite. "I don't…" She coughed. "I don't think that's going to work."

"Why not?"

Her gaze registered the utter disbelief in her heart. "Umm, well for one thing, did you forget who you're talking to? This is me. Remember? Rory. I haven't been on a date in… well, that's not important. The important thing is this is not me. This is nothing I can pull off. I'm not like those girls, I don't jump at the chance of being on Elimidate."

"Why not?"

"Why don't I want to be on Elimidate? Seriously Logan..."

Logan rolled his eyes, "No Ace, why don't you think you can pull it off?"

She closed her eyes and laughed sarcastically. "Look at me. I can't compete with somebody like Mandy."

"Sure you can," he said matter-of-factly. "With the right look, you wouldn't be bad."

"Gee, thanks." She turned back to her Sprite and then thought better of that idea.

"No, I'm just saying you have potential."

She looked at him trying to figure out how to tell him where to go and how to get there. "Well, that was better."

"Come on, Ace. I'm asking you to do this as a favor to Brian."

"I don't even know Brian."

"Okay, then do it for me," Logan said, turning fully toward her. "Please. Call it an early Christmas present."

She shook her head. "You're insane."

"Yeah, but you'll do it, right?"

"I don't know. I'll have to think about it." Hesitantly she took a sip of Sprite that burned all the way down her throat.

"Well, think fast. We don't have much time."

OoOoO

"So, what did you get Mandy for Christmas?" Logan asked that night, doing some deep sea fishing for any information he could use to further the plan.

"I haven't yet, why?" Brian asked as he surveyed the bushes he had just glued to the model.

"Just trying to get some ideas," Logan said, setting up three trees and stepping back to look at it. "How's this?"

Brian leaned over and nodded. "Good."

In one swipe Logan grabbed the glue and started attaching the trees to the mat.

"So you looking for something for Chinese food girl?" Brian asked, never taking his gaze off the tiny backyard.

Logan shrugged. "I was thinking about it."

Slowly Brian spun the mat around examining every inch of it carefully. "I'd thought about going shopping at Lenox tomorrow night. Mandy's going out with some friends."

The picture that leaped into Logan's mind at that news was one he would've preferred to never have seen. "Maybe we can go together."

"Strength in numbers," Brian said with a nod. "I like that."

OoOoOoOoO

"It's all set," Logan whispered in to the phone excitedly.

"What's all set?" Rory asked apprehensively.

"The plan. It's all in place."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked as anger laced through the words.

"What?"

"I haven't said, 'Yes' yet."

"Oh, yeah, but that's a minor technicality," he said, batting that small problem out of his mind. He heard her sigh. "What?"

"Maybe I'm going to say 'No'."

"Come on. You know I wouldn't ask if this wasn't important."

"Life and death?"

"As close as it comes."

He heard a second deeper sigh. "Please, Ace. Please. I'm on my knees begging here. Please."

"Fine," she finally said, still not sounding at all convinced. "So what's the plan?"

Read? Review please!


	9. Chapter 9

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoO

"You ready?" Logan asked, swinging into her cubicle while leaving one arm wrapped against the wall.

"I'm not sure about this." She looked up from the desk she had purposely let get piled with work. "I'm really going to get behind if we leave early."

"You're always behind." He strode into the small space in annoyance. "Now, come on, we don't have much time."

"I don't know," she said as he crossed past her desk and grabbed her mouse. In two seconds her computer was shutting down, and he was holding her coat out for her. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Of course it's a bad idea. If I had a good one, it would've already worked."

She slid her arms into the armholes and pushed his words away from her heart. "I still think you should get someone else."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, and while you're backpedaling, Brian's headed for the altar."

A sigh escaped her as he laid a hand on her waist to guide her out of the cubicle. She liked the way it felt – like it was guiding her to something she wanted more than anything. But Brian wasn't the one she wanted.

"I thought we could grab a burger on the way to West End. That way we'll have four hours to get you made up."

"Fabulous," she said, having never felt so much dread about anything in her life.

OoOoOo

"What color did you have in mind?" Sandra, the beautician Logan had picked, asked.

"I don't really want to change my color," Rory said, running a nervous hand through her straight hair.

"Okay. Well, how about a few highlights and maybe a spiral perm? With the right cut, they could really bring out the blue in your eyes."

Logan's gaze pleaded with her to agree.

"Okay," she faintly said, swallowing the protests with the lump in her throat. This was all turning into some derailed Princess Diaries sequel.

Smoothly Sandra laid the chair back against the sink, and Rory's new life began.

OoOoO

Like a sculptor removing the clay that doesn't belong to his statue, Logan stood, arms crossed, jaw set in concentration. The success of the plan hinged on pulling the right look out of Rory's carefully constructed girl-next-door thing. Brian wouldn't fall for just anyone – she had to be special, stunning, irresistible.

When Sandra had taken Rory to the back the last time, she had insisted that Logan let them work in peace.

"Some things should remain a mystery," Sandra had said although Rory was no mystery to him. She was more like a sister. A friend. A best friend. Mystery had never been a part of their relationship. It was a concept that he had never contemplated in relation to Rory until Sandra had separated them.

"Uh-hmm," Sandra said from behind him.

Logan looked up into the mirror, and his eyes widened in shock. Slowly he turned, stunned into utter speechlessness.

"So, what do you think?" the girl he was pretty sure was Rory said although the only thing that looked familiar was her clothing.

"I…" He shook his head to clear away the dream he was sure this was. As though walking on clouds, he stepped over to her and touched the ringlets spiraling down her race. A soft smile touched his lips as his gaze took in her soft pale skin, with only the smallest traces of color tinting it. "It's perfect."

The glint in her eyes sunk right into his heart. He had never seen the vulnerability he now found glowing from her eyes, and he smiled to calm the fear in them. "Brian won't know what hit him."

OoOo

After a frantic search for the right outfit, which she wouldn't let him even inspect, he dropped her off at her apartment, with only a half hour to spare. Without getting out of his car, he watched her sprint up the stairs to her apartment door and wave one more time before disappearing through the door.

He knew the last thing he had was time to waste, and yet his gaze wouldn't leave that door for the hope that she might reappear. One breath, two, three, four, and he finally had to admit she wasn't coming back.

Ripping his gaze from the door and his mind from the midst of her apartment, he refocused on the street and pulled back out into traffic. This was going to work. For once in this whole mess, something was going to work just the way he had planned.

OoOoOoOo

By 7:30 they had barely made it through two stores, and although Brian had found a couple of possibilities, Logan was able to talk him out of them without much trouble.

"Why don't we go up to Rich's?" Logan asked as though he hadn't been thinking about that question for a solid twelve hours.

Brian shrugged and followed Logan through the crush of Christmas shoppers to the spiral staircase. "I hate waiting 'til the last minute to do this."

"So why didn't you do it sooner?"

"I hate doing it sooner, too."

Logan laughed, forcing himself not to look anxious as he looked around at his fellow shoppers. A picture of Rory as she crawled out of his car flashed through his mind. Although he had spent more hours with her in his lifetime than he had with anyone else, he wasn't at all sure that he would know her when he saw her tonight.

"I'm surprised you and Chinese food girl aren't going out tonight," Brian said as they pushed through the crowd to the doors. "What happened? You two break up?"

"Taking a break," Logan said with a shrug as a picture of her balancing on crutches as she de-boned chicken in her kitchen streaked across the canvas of his mind.

"That's too bad," Brian said. "I was hoping we could double sometime. Hey, maybe Mandy could find you somebody."

"No, thanks," Logan said a little too quickly, and Brian looked at him in puzzlement. "I mean I'm not really looking right now."

"Oh."

The press of bodies jostled them as Logan led the way to the perfume counter. Furtively he checked at his watch. Perfect timing. Now if Rory had that same sense of timing, he was home free.

"How about perfume?" Logan asked off-handedly.

Brian scrunched his nose up. "I don't know much about perfume."

"What's there to know?" Logan walked up to the counter and leaned onto it, pretending to examine the bottles displayed there as he searched the crowd. Come on, Ace, where are you?

At that moment he saw her, and every thought of Brian and the plan vanished. The black sweater she wore was draped perfectly across the delicate expanse of her milky white shoulders. Her hair, still up in the ringlets, framed her face so that her whole countenance resembled fine porcelain.

"How do you test this stuff?" Brian asked, picking up a bottle and examining it before putting it back down and picking up another. "I don't want to go out of here smelling like a street walker."

"Tell you what," Logan said as his gaze locked with Rory's, "I've got to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." A silent message passed between then, and then he stepped away from the counter. "Don't leave. Okay?"

"I won't." Brian picked up another bottle and examined it as Logan moved away from the counter.

From his new vantage point in the middle of the clothing section, Logan watched her slowly circle the sparkling glass until she was standing right next to Brian. Without him wanting it to, his gaze traveled down the curve of her sweater to the hip covered with black denim and then all the way down to her black sling-back heels on her feet. She was perfection incarnate, and for a split second he wished that he was the one standing in Brian's shoes.

OoOoOoO

Rory watched Brian, thinking that if she had to be set up with someone, that someone could've been a whole lot worse. Her pulse raced as she tried to decide the best way to strike up a conversation. She reached for a bottle just as he reached for the same bottle, and their hands met in a flash of electric shock.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rory said, yanking her hand back and fighting to keep her balance on the heels that were far too high for her.

"No, no, it was me," Brian said, looking at her and then stopping short. "I'm sorry."

She smiled at him, but it was no pretend smile. As the heat rushed to her cheeks, she ducked her head in embarrassment. People pushed past her on their way out, and she bumped Brian's shoulders before she knew she was moving. "I'm sorry."

He smiled at her. "No need to apologize."

"I hate last minute shopping," she said, shaking her head so that the ringlets danced around her face.

"Me too," he said, instantly relaxing. "I always think I'm going to get finished before Thanksgiving, but that has never happened."

"I hear you there." Careful to avoid his hand, she picked up a small, square bottle with a shiny silver top sporting the single word 'Eternity' etches across its side. Effortlessly she sprayed some onto her wrist, lifted it to her nose and sniffed. "I never can tell how this stuff smells." She looked at him with her wrist still upturned. "Do you mind?"

He shrugged as though it was the best offer he'd had in months. He leaned over and inhaled the sweet scent. "Not bad."

"Not bad? Is that good?" she asked, wishing she'd had more practice at this.

"No, I think it's great actually," he said with a smile that evaporated as his gaze dropped back to the bottles. "How about this one?"

She watched him pick up a bottle of Splendor, and she gamely offered him the other wrist. With a single glance at her, he sprayed the mist onto her wrist, and she laid the soft skin of her wrist onto her nose and breathed it in. "Nice." Their gazes locked. "Here."

He bent until her wrist touched the side of his face, and he closed his eyes and inhaled. "Very nice."

The racing of her heart threatened to run away without her. "Yeah. Well…" She glanced behind her as electricity jumped from his eyes. "I'd better get back to shopping."

"Oh," he said, blinking as thought he hadn't realized she might leave. "Yeah, me too."

"Take care," she said and smiled at him before wandering off into the clothing department.

Four racks over, she picked up a sleeve and examined the price tag. Stealthily she glanced around her and caught Logan's gaze from across the rack tops. Without really moving her head, she nodded to him, and he smiled.

Phase One was complete. It was on to Phase Two.

OoOoO

"Sorry I took so long," Logan said, striding back up to the perfume counter. "This place is a madhouse."

"Yeah, no kidding," Brian said, and Logan noticed the small packing sitting on the counter.

"So you found something?"

"Oh, yeah," Brian shrugged. "Present for my mom."

"Oh." Logan nodded. "Listen, I'm really getting hungry, what do you say we grab something to eat?"

"Sounds good to me," Brian said with a faraway smile. As they made their way through the crowd, Logan couldn't help but notice Brian looking back into the store, and he hoped that Brian was looking for the mystery girl in black.

They walked halfway across the mall before stopping at a little food place Logan suggested. In unison they sat down and surveyed the menus. With a few minutes they had ordered and were settling in for a nice meal.

"Okay, so, we've pretty much excluded Rich's and Macy's," Logan said, leaning back in his chair and trying not to look over at the door too often. "So, what's next?"

"Well, we can walk down to Neiman Marcus and see what's between here and there."

Logan nodded just as his attention caught on the black-clad beauty who'd just strolled in through the door. "Oh, my gosh."

"What?" Brian asked, looking at him.

"It's Rory." Logan stood and motioned to her. "Rory."

She looked through the fading darkness at their table and smiled when she saw him.

"Hello, you," she said happily as she glided up to their table and accepted the brush kiss he planted on her cheek. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Yeah, are you last minute shopping too?"

"Of course," she said, and the blush on her cheeks stood out against the white of her skin.

"Uh-hmm." Brian cleared his throat, and it was the first time Logan had noticed that Brian was standing at his side of the table.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Rory, this is Brian Easton, my roommate."

When Rory turned and smiled at Brian, a sick, green feeling plunged into the pit of Logan's stomach.

"Oh, hey, we've met," Rory said, focusing on Brian to the total exclusion of Logan.

"Met?" Logan asked, hoping his voice registered the right amount of puzzlement.

"Yeah," Brian said, and his smile was shining through more than his lips. "It's nice to meet you, Rory."

With that single name, Logan knew that Brian was hooked.

"Why don't you join us?" Brian asked, indicated the seat between them.

"Oh, no, I'd hate to impose."

"No, no, please," Brian said, pulling the chair out for her.

Slowly she smiled at him and then nodded. "All right."

OoOoO

It was odd because if anyone had walked up to the table, they would have been convinced that the old friends were Rory and Brian rather than Rory and Logan. He tried to add interesting comments to the conversation, but it really wasn't necessary. It was like they didn't even remember he was at the table too.

"I'm thinking about starting my own business," Brian said, ducking his head as though the information was somehow more intimate than the words portrayed.

"In what?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Landscaping."

"Oh, so you work with your hands," Rory said, and when she laid her perfectly manicured fingers over Brian's hand, Logan's pulse jumped into his throat.

"Yeah," Brian said as a small laugh escaped from him. "Logan says he might be interested in helping me if I can ever get it off the ground."

"That's great," Rory said, never so much as glancing at Logan. Her other hand moved to her chin, and she laid her cheek on it. "So, tell me about this business of yours."

OoOoOo

An hour and a half later, they had finished the meal, and Logan's stomach was in one giant knot. The plan was working better than he could ever have hoped for, but for the life of him, he couldn't be happy about that fact.

"Well," Rory said, glancing at her watch. "I really appreciated having such good company for dinner." She stood and the two men followed her up as she reached for her check.

However, Brian beat her to it. "No, please. Let me."

The edges of her mouth curled up as Brian's hand touched hers. "Well, thank you."

"No problem," Brian said smoothly.

Their gazes locked and once again, Logan felt utterly invisible. Then she pulled her gaze from Brian and looked at Logan with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Bright and early," Logan said, hating the squeak of his voice and wishing she would reach out and touch his arm the way she had Brian's.

With one more smile, she glided out of the restaurant, and the two men resumed their seats.

"Whoa," Brian said after taking a long drink. "She's unbelievable."

"You can say that again," Logan said, still staring out the door that she had disappeared through.

Brian fingered his glass for a long moment. "So, you work with her, huh?"

"Yeah." Logan's gaze fell from the door to Brian's face.

"So, her number's got to be like in your work directory or something."

"Course."

The next words confirmed what Logan saw in Brian's eyes. "You think I could get a copy of that directory?"

OoOoO

"It worked," Logan said, swinging into her cubicle, expecting the old Rory to be sitting there, but although her hair was now spiraling down around her face, he could see the new Rory hadn't vanished.

She was on the phone, and instantly she swiped her red fingernails in the air at him.

"Yeah," she said into the phone, turning her chair slightly. "Tonight? No, I'm not doing anything."

A crease ran down the center of Logan's forehead as he took the chair in front of her.

"Seven? Yeah, that sounds great," she said never quite meeting Logan's concerned gaze. "Okay, I'll see you at seven… okay. You too. Bye." Slowly she hung up the phone as Logan sat, fingers entwined in front of him, a look of utter concern written in his eyes.

"Who was that?"

"Who do you think?" she said, a tinge of annoyance lacing the words as she turned to her computer without so much as glancing at him.

He watched her as the knot formed in his stomach again. "Listen, Ace, if you don't want to go through with this…"

"A nice guy asked me out," she said, shrugging, "I don't have to know he's almost engaged, do I?"

"No," Logan said, but the syllable got lost in the rush of emotions engulfing him. "But you know if you want to call it off, I mean, I'll understand."

Rory looked at him then with sad eyes. "It's one date. No big deal. Trust me, it won't take him long to figure out I'm not who he thinks I am."

The crease furrowed farther into Logan's forehead. "What does that mean?"

"It means," she said with a soft smile, "I know the score. Okay? Nobody falls for me – not the real me – not for long anyway. I know that. So, forget about it already. I have."

OoOoO

The words ran in long rows down Logan's computer as he tried to concentrate on something other than her face in the semi-darkness of the restaurant and her eyes when she'd assured him she knew the score.

Sadness permeated those eyes every time they invaded his thoughts. Her looking up at him after her miraculous transformation. Her across the desk. Nobody falls for the real me. Although on the outside last night her behavior was no more than an act, anybody that could play that part so well had something of the character in them. There was far more to Rory Gilmore than he had ever bothered to notice.

His gaze traveled unbidden from his computer screen to the calendar at his elbow. Christmas was Tuesday, and he hadn't even thought to get her anything. Suddenly her gift to him seemed to large to repay. He had to get her something. Something special. Something to thank her and let her know he appreciated everything she had done for him.

With one snap, he clicked the save button and stood. He hated to miss lunch with her, but the gift was more important. He grabbed his coat and stopped only once on his way out.

"I'm going to take an early lunch," he said at her cubicle door, and the vulnerability in her eyes instantly met his gaze when she looked up. He saw it this time, but as quickly as it was there, it vanished.

"Okay," she said as a haze clouded across her eyes just before she looked back to the work scattered across her desk. "You'll be back though. Right?"

"Yeah."

She nodded and smiled. "Have fun."

"Will do." He slapped the side of her wall. "See ya."

"Yeah, see ya," she said to her paperwork long after he had gone. Her eyes fell closed as her heart twisted over on itself. A picture of him sitting in the restaurant the night before seeped into her consciousness. It had taken every last piece of sanity she possessed to keep her mind on Brian and away from Logan.

There was no denying that Brian was extremely handsome and perfectly polite, but she couldn't help but wish that Logan had asked her out to the mall just because he wanted to be with her. She had told herself that being with him would be enough to make her happy, but her heart told her she was wrong. Totally, hopelessly, undeniably wrong.

Without her permission her brain edited the memory of last night ever so slightly, and suddenly it was Logan's hand she was touching, and Logan pulling out her chair, and Logan looking at her like she'd just fallen out of heaven. But she would never have the guts to make that kind of scene with Logan. He would think she had lost her mind.

More than that, he knew her too well to ever think she could be like that. No, Logan knew the real Rory, and that ruined every chance she might ever have had with him.

With a sigh, she checked her watch. If she worked through lunch, she could leave early and make a quick trip to the mall. After all, she had a date tonight and Brian's Rory had absolutely nothing to wear.

OoOoOo

The search had taken much longer than he wanted it to, and by the time Logan made it back to the office, her cubicle was empty. Every paper was in its place in neat stacks, and he smiled despite the disappointment that she wasn't there.

Carefully he walked over to her desk and pulled the wrapped bottle of Eternity out of his coat pocket. It was the same square, silver-topped bottle he had watched her pick up at the counter when she had put her pride on the line for him. A reminder of Phase One of The Plan. A reminder that they were a team. Checking the position of the small, red-wrapped box and the card he placed on her desk, he smiled.

She was going to be surprised when she read his message. It would make everything all right in his world again. With one more glance, he walked back into his own space and began where he'd left off, feeling much more confident about the direction his life was headed than he'd ever felt before. This was right. He knew it, and he knew she would know it too.

Read? Review please!


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you for your reviews and comments, I like hearing what you guys think. Classes start again soon (blah...) so updates may not be as regular, but I promise I will update as quickly as possible._

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOo

Rory's plan had been to make some small appearance with Brian. Let him take her out. Laugh a little. Have some fun. Then go home and wait for Logan's phone call saying she had failed.

However, she hadn't counted on how truly charming Brian would turn out to be. He held doors for her, pulled her chair out, and was generally mesmerizing for three solid hours. And as they walked out of the restaurant, Rory was thankful that the night hadn't been a total disaster.

"So, what do you say we run over to Club Kaya?" Brian asked as they walked down the sidewalk to his car.

"Club Kaya?" she asked in instant panic.

"Yeah, it's still early." He checked his watch. "I'm not tired at all."

She wanted to tell him that she was tired, very tired. Not once in her entire life had she stepped foot in anything resembling Club Kaya.

"I promise we won't stay long," she said, lifting a hand to the small of her back. "When you're ready to go, just tell me."

Although every sane part of her was screaming at her to just go home now, one small piece said she might never get this chance again.

"Okay," she finally said, just as they reached this car. "But only for a little while."

A kaleidoscope of color and lights greeted them at the doorway. Brian paid for them both and then led her into the crazy patterned darkness.

"How about over here?" he yelled, pointing across the tables.

Unconsciously Rory's head began moving with the beat pulsing out of the huge speakers. She sat in the chair he pulled out for her and laid her chin into her hand. The place was crowded. Women sauntered around them in skirts so short, Rory wondered what the point of putting one on was.

Suddenly in her modest dress, she felt hopelessly overdressed and frumpy.

"You want something to drink?" Brian asked, leaning over to her side of the table.

"Oh, no, I don't drink often," she said, forgetting to be new Rory for one moment to long.

"You don't drink?" he asked in confusion, but he quickly covered over it with a shrug. "That's cool. Do you want a coke or something?"

Gratefully she smiled at him, "Sure."

Relieved, he stood from the table, and she watched him wander over to the bar and lean against it. If this was for real, she thought never taking her gaze off of him, I really could fall for him. If… Her mind came back to reality with a crash, and her fingers and her gaze dropped to the table. This wasn't for real, and if she had any hopes of keeping her heart in one piece, she had to remember that.

He returned and set her drink in front of her.

"Thanks," she said as her finger moved from the table to the glass.

In one fluid motion he pulled his chair around to her side and sat. "So, how'd you get the name Rory anyway?"

Instantly the heat flooded her cheeks, and she turned her head out to watch the dancers. "It's actually short for Lorelai. My mom thought it would be neat to name me after herself; I guess hours of labor will do that to you. But I like it."

"Cool," Brian said as though it really was. "My folks went more for the classic set. Sarah, Andrew, Rachel. Pretty boring, huh?"

"No. Maybe it's better to have a boring name, better than having to explain it all the time. 'Rory? Can you spell that?'"

He laughed, and then slowly the laugh slipped away as his arm slid around the back of her chair. "Well, I think she gave a very beautiful name to a very beautiful daughter."

Rory's gaze drifted back out to the dancers as her brain struggled to remember this wasn't real. He was only talking to an illusion.

"You want to dance?" he asked as a slow song began pouring through the speakers.

"Oh, I don't…" she stated, but he was already standing at the side of the table offering her his hand.

Fighting not to appear ungraceful, she took his hand and he led her to the floor. Hot blood raced through her veins as she turned to him and laid her arms over his shoulders. His hands wrapped around her waist, and she laid her temple against his shoulder. They began to move in perfect unison. Back and forth. Slowly.

She breathed in the scent of him locked permanently into the knit of his shirt, and a picture of him standing under the white hot lights of Rich's department store burned into her mind. It was crazy to go there. He wasn't her type. For one thing, she didn't like beards, but it was more than that. He had a quality about him that said he didn't settle for safe. That risk was as inherent to him as his scent.

Risk had never been her forte. It was not a part of her in even the smallest measure. No, she thought ever decision through to its conclusion – weighing the consequences carefully. She was famous for her pro/con lists, that's how she decided everything. And if any consequence had the least amount of risk attached to it, she avoided it like a viper in the grass.

But here, she could soak his love of risk into her soul, and for one moment, she could pretend that she was exactly the woman he had been searching for his entire life. That she, Rory Gilmore, could simply take his hand and never be afraid again.

His hand moved up her back as he pulled her close to him, and she melted into him. If she just wasn't Rory, her life would be much better. Of that, she was perfectly sure.

When the song ended, he took her hand and led her back to their table. She sat in the chair he pulled out for her and looked up at him to say, "Thank you," but the words never made it past the concern on his face. "What?"

"Umm," he said in a voice that sounded like he was being strangled as he stared over her head to the bar, "would you excuse me for a second?"

Rory looked around as fear jumped into the middle of her fantasy. "Oh, sure. Are you…?"

But he had already stepped past her. She turned around trying to figure out what was going on, and instantly every sane part of her said that now would be a very good time to leave. At the bar, coiled seductively in the lap of a rather large, solidly muscled man, sat Mandy, her blonde locks tracing their way down the black leather of the vest curved tightly over her ample chest.

"Oh, God," Rory said, closing her eyes and wishing she was anywhere but smack in the middle of a nightmare.

She couldn't hear their exchange exactly, but the words weren't necessary. Mandy slid off the man's lap, and her face contorted when she realized that Brian was actually standing right in front of her. After a few agonizing moments Brian turned to leave, but Mandy grabbed onto his sleeve, a pleading look scratched across her face. Although Rory could only see Brian' back, she knew the look on his face all too well. She had seen that look sitting across from her desk for the better part of four months.

"Let me go!" Brian yelled over the screeching music. "That's it!" With one shake he broke Mandy's grip free from his arm.

"Brian, no! Wait!" Mandy pleaded as she followed him across the floor. "I can explain." However, all her pleading screeched to an abrupt halt when he stopped at Rory's table. "Who is this?"

"This is my date," Brian said angrily.

Mandy's eyebrows knitted together in the center of her forehead as she crossed her arms firmly in front of her. "And you're accusing me of cheating? Isn't that a bit like the pot calling the kettle black?"

"You were going out of town, remember?" Brian asked as thought that justified his taking someone else out. "Besides Rory and I are just friends."

Slowly Rory stood from the table, drawing every ounce of dignity she had left with her. "I think it's time for me to leave."

"No, wait," Brian said, reaching out for her, but she pulled her elbow away at the last second.

"I can see myself home," Rory said softly. She grabbed her coat and threw it over her arm. There was no need for it. The heat of embarrassment would be all the insulation she would need.

Brian was torn between what he should do just long enough for Rory to make it past the stares and gaping mouths and out the door. The cold air hit her face with a slap, and she stuffed the humiliation down. At the bus stop, she hopped onto the once that happened to be sitting there. She didn't care where she went. All she wanted was to get as far away as possible.

OoOoOo

"Logan!" Brian yelled, pounding on the door and bringing Logan straight out of bed. "Logan! Wake up, man!"

In a half-second Logan had the door open and was standing here, bleary-eyed and panicked. "What?"

The instant Logan appeared, Brian leaned against the wall as though he was in danger of collapsing.

"What? What is it?" Logan asked, looking around for the smoke and flames he was sure had to be somewhere.

"I screwed up, man. Bad."

"Screwed up?" Logan asked in confusion. "How? What are you talking about?"

"Rory," Brian said finally catching his breath. "I took her out to Club Kaya."

Logan pushed the picture of them together at a club underneath the overwhelming panic in Brian's eyes. "Where is she? What happened?"

"Mandy."

"Mandy? Oh, no."

"I didn't know she was going to be there," Brian began, but Logan was already back in his room with the phone in his hand.

"I went to her place, but there was no answer on the intercom."

"Pick up," Logan commanded her. "Come on, pick up."

After the fourth ring, the answering machine picked it up, and Logan hit the reset button and then the redial. "Come on, Ace, please pick up."

OoOoOoO

The streetlights flashed past the bus window as Rory laid her head against its coolness. Even though Brian was never supposed to be anything other than a way to help Logan, she felt the humiliation to her core.

"We're just friends."

How many times had she heard those words in her lifetime? That's all Rory Gilmore had ever been to anyone. Friends. And they were all so happy about that. She was someone they could talk to. Someone they could tell things that no one else knew, and yet she wasn't good enough to really date. Go out with once or twice for kicks, for laughs, but that was as far as it ever went – for them. Dean had liked her because she was safe. Jess had been her one and only bad boy.

The bus had stopped six times before she realized where she was. With a deep breathe she knew she might as well get off at the next stop. She had taken this bus many times during her Chilton years. It was one o'clock in the morning, but she knew where the key was, and she knew exactly how to sneak in without waking her mom or Luke. She was supposed to be there for Christmas in the morning anyway, so what was a few extra hours?

Besides, sleeping in her own bed, in her own room, with her mom's protection surrounding her sounded very, very appealing at the moment. The bus rolled to a stop, and Rory stood with the last sway. She walked to the front and stepped off. The air was colder now, and she swung her coat over her shoulders.

But the chill seeped in all the way into her heart, which she considered a good thing. If she could just fine a way to permanently freeze her heart, maybe these things wouldn't hurt so much. It was silly after all. She had set out to Brian and Mandy up, and she had accomplished that mission with precision. It was just that in all the planning she hadn't seen the jeopardy her own heart was in until it was too late.

Slowly she kicked her way up the front walk as the feeling of not being good enough overwhelmed her again. Writing articles, she was good at. Getting the real facts, she was good at. She was a great reporter and writer, earning the nickname Ace from Logan back at Yale. Always doing the right thing and helping others, she was good at. Dating was another story.

She pulled the key from under the turtle on the porch and quietly let herself in. If she could just figure out how to fix what was wrong with her, maybe some guy somewhere would be interested. Until she fixed that flaw, however, she was sure she was doomed to walk this sidewalk, heartbroken and humiliated, for the rest of her life.

OoOoOO

"Let's not panic," Brian said, obviously not taking his won advice. "Maybe she went somewhere – a friend's house or something."

Logan searched every file in his brain, but the only names he came up with were family names. "Maybe she went home."

"That's it," Brian said, sitting up straight. "What's her last name?"

"Gilmore. I know her grandparents live here and I think her mom lives in Stars Hollow, but I'm not sure."

"Well, it's worth a try."

"Sorry, but I'm not waking Emily and Richard Gilmore up to ask if their granddaughter is there. I value my life to much. I hate to say it, but I think we're going to have to wait until she gets home," Logan said, running a weary hand over his eyes.

Trying one last time, he hit reset and then dialed her number. It rang. Once, twice, three times. Four. Click. "Hi, this is Rory…" Slowly he hit the reset button. As much as he hated the thought, they had run out of options.

OoOo

Home was supposed to make everything better, but it wasn't helping. Even Luke's cooking tasted like cardboard. She wanted to call Logan, but she couldn't take his pity or his ire that she hadn't stayed to see the plan through to conclusion. For all she knew Brian had probably smoothed things over with Mandy, and they were headed into wedded bliss right now.

Her body went through the motions of opening her Christmas presents and eating Christmas dinner, but she wouldn't let any true emotions past the mortification in her gut.

She thought about what Lorelai had been like at her age and that certainly didn't help. She had perfect skin, dark brunette tresses, and finely chiseled features that had no trouble getting guys to fall in love with her. In fact, she was usually the one with the broken hearts left in her wake.

Sitting on her mother's floor watching her and Luke, Rory could only remember twice in all their growing up years when Lorelai had been reduced to tears by any guy. However, she was quite sure that more than one guy had been reduced to tears because of her. Not that she was jealous or resented her mother.

A picture of Mandy slipped into Rory's mind and she couldn't imagine doing that to anyone. She would die before she knowingly hurt someone. Well, except for last night, but that was a fluke – she wasn't herself then. She was new Rory. New Rory. What a joke. New Rory was no better than old Rory, and in the end she had gotten the same results anyway.

It was then, sitting in the middle of her living room that she thought about Lane. Lane would know what to do. She would know just how to fix this whole problem. Rory sighed as tears stung the backs of her eyes. Sure she was happy that Hep Alien was out on another tour, but Rory really needed her best friend right now. The fact that she was doomed to walk through life with nothing and no one to fill the void in the center cavity of her chest was abundantly clear.

"You're awful quiet tonight," Luke said, sitting down in the chair next to her a laying hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," Rory said softly, and then she sat up straighter. "Just enjoying being home."

The last thing she wanted to do was answer questions about the sorry state her life was in. In fact, the less they knew, the better off she would be. She didn't want to talk to her mom about this, she didn't think she would understand. The only problem was that whether or not they knew how bad her life was, she still did, and there wasn't a single thing she could do about that.

OoOoOo

Before grabbing his overnight bag and headed out for his parents' house, Logan called her house two more times. Brian had flown out some hours earlier, without Mandy, but Logan had put off leaving on the off chance that Rory might call or might finally answer her phone. But there was still no answer.

As he brushed the light off, a silent prayer cross his lips. "Please, God, let her be all right."

_So I know several people were wondering what was in the card, that's coming up soon..._


	11. Chapter 11

_Thank you for your reviews, they make me smile!_

Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOo

Rory had done everything she could possibly think of to delay her trip to work on Wednesday. Christmas had passed as the previous 25 had, with no earth-shattering change in her life. It was strange that even now, when she should know better, she still managed to get her hopes up that her dream guy would walk through the door Christmas Eve and sweep her off her feet.

That was probably why her heart had played out the whole fantasy with Brian, but of course, that was an illusion at best, a nightmare at worst. She pushed him and the whole club scene away from her mind. Just keep walking – pretty soon it will all be a distant memory.

She walked to the elevator and forced her gaze not to look out across the canopy of trees. Logan. He was the only other hurdle to cross in this whole mess, and if she hadn't had a chance with him before, she was sure her chances had sunk into the sub-negatives after her performance at Kaya. The elevator slid up to her floor, and she clutched her purse, steeling herself for what awaited her when the doors slid open.

Her gaze darted around the workstations as her feet carried her quickly over the carpet to her cubicle. Three more steps and she would be in his, but that wasn't a task she wanted to tackle at the moment. Thankfully she slide into her chair and then stopped.

A small red foil-wrapped package sat in the middle of her desk, and her forehead furrowed in confusion. Slowly she picked it up and examined it carefully before tearing the paper away. Eternity.

"Oh." Her heart thudded in her chest as she reached for the card. One finger tore it open as the other hand held it shakily. She pulled the card free and read the front. 'A Christmas Wish.' Still shaking, her hand opened the card, and it was all she could do to keep breathing.

'Rory, I'm so sorry to have put you in the middle of all of this. Can you give me a chance to make it up to you? It would mean the world to me.'

She turned the card over, but there was no signature. At that moment the phone at her elbow rang, and she jumped a foot. Her hand reached for it, even as her other hand clutched the card. "Hello?"

"Yes, I'd like to speak with Rory Gilmore please," the male voice on the other end said.

"This is she."

"Rory, oh, thank God you're okay," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Who… who is this?"

"Brian."

The name crashed into her consciousness as her heart jumped into her throat. "Oh."

"Listen, I'm so sorry about the other night. The whole thing was stupid. I should've been honest with you from the beginning." His voice stopped for a moment as she looked back at the bottle sitting on her desk. "Umm, I was wondering if you might consider going out tonight so we could talk."

Rory fingered the delicate box on her desk as her heart and her head battled over what to do. She knew that she should just hang up on him, throw the bottle in the trash, and go on with her life. But what she wanted to do was believe he was really truly interested in making things right with her.

"Please, Rory, give me a chance to explain… Please."

"Okay," she finally said as movement at her door caught her attention. When she looked up, her heart filled up her whole chest. Logan. Deftly she turned her chair around. She couldn't look at Logan while she was talking to Brian – it was too humiliating. "When?"

"I can pick you up at seven."

"All right," she said, hearing the shield and the brandished word in her voice. "I'll see you at seven."

"Great, and Rory, thanks for giving me another chance."

"Sure," she said, surrendering to the absurd hope in her heart. "I've got to get to work."

"Okay. I'll let you go. See ya."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

When his side clicked, she held the phone at her ear for one more second before she breathed a sigh and spun her chair around. The receiver hit the cradle as she fought for somewhere safe to put her gaze.

"Morning," Logan said, sitting forward in his chair, concern scrawled across his face.

"Morning," she said, dropping the perfume and the card into her top drawer and pushing it closed before sorting through paperwork stacked on her desk.

"How was Christmas?"

"Fine. Yours?"

"Good."

"That's good," she said with a tight smile although she only barely glanced up.

"Who was that?"

"Oh. Umm, Brian," she said off-handedly looking at the phone.

"You're going out tonight?" Logan asked, his forehead furrowing deeper with every question.

"Yeah."

"So, I guess that means the plan is working then?"

The Plan. Rory hated those words. They had caused her nothing but trouble. "I guess."

Logan nodded as his fingers laced themselves together. "You know maybe this was a dumb idea. I mean you don't really have to go through with it if you don't…"

"Brian's a nice guy," Rory said, wondering why she was defending someone she would normally consider a class A jerk. "We're just friends."

"Oh."

"Just friends," she said again as her chest constricted around those words. "No big deal."

"Oh."

Silence filled the room, taking up all the oxygen.

"You know I'm really behind here." She waved her hand over her desk. "Is there something else you needed?"

"Umm, no." Logan pushed himself out of the chair and walked to the door before turning. "I'm glad you had a good Christmas."

"Yeah, you too," she said without looking up.

He stood in her doorway for three more seconds and then lightly hit the doorframe and walked away.

Rory breathed a sigh of relief. He obviously didn't know about the Friday fiasco, and that was fine with her. Tonight she would go out with Brian, he would tell her he was marrying Mandy, and then her life could get back to normal. She couldn't wait.

OoOoO

Logan sat at his desk most of the morning listening to her every movement on the other side of the wall. Once he'd even answered his own phone when hers had rung. It was obvious from the way she had dropped his gift into the drawer that she wasn't interested in giving him a chance, and to be honest, he couldn't blame her. He had never treated her as anything other than a pawn, and knowing anyone could treat her like that made the anger clench his fists.

If he could just talk to her. Tell her what was in his heart. But she had made it perfectly clear what she thought of that idea. He shook his head, wishing he could think of something other than the way the light glinted off her hair, the startling blue of her eyes, and the light color of her cheeks. Her. Rory.

OoOoOo

She was dusting the powder on her face once more when the intercom rang at seven. "Yeah?"

"It's Brian."

"I'll be right down."

Quickly she grabbed her purse and a few extra dollars in case her luck continued to run so awry. With one more check in the mirror, she raced out the door and down the stairs. Leaving him in the could probably served him right, but even angry and humiliated, she couldn't be mean.

"Hi," he said, standing at the top of the stairs, hands in his pockets looking like he wanted to run as much as she did.

"Hi," she said softly.

"My car's this way."

She nodded and walked down the steps in front of him as she forced air into her lungs even though the chills of it burned all the way down. They got into the car and drove to the restraint with no words spoken between them. In fact, they might as well have been on trains going in opposite directions for the number of times they even met one another's gaze.

At the restaurant she got out before he had the chance to make it around to her side. Without touching they walked in, and when the waitress seated them, Rory made sure to put as much space between them as possible.

However, once they had ordered, there was nothing else she could find to put between them anymore.

"Listen," Brian began without looking at her, "Umm, I need to apologize to you for the other night. When I asked you out, I really wasn't being fair to you. See, I'd been going out with this other girl for a while and we were pretty serious – or so I thought. But I guess neither of us was as committed as I thought we were."

Rory sat, offering nothing. She was here to hear his apology, nothing more.

"Anyway, I shouldn't have asked you out until I'd at least talked it over with Mandy."

Mandy. The named rolled Rory's stomach.

"But we broke up," he said slowly. "Officially."

Rory's arms crossed in front of her firmly. "And this concerns me, how?"

"Look, I know I don't deserve it, but I'm asking for another chance." His gaze caught hers unexpectantly, and her heart turned over. I'd really like the chance to get to know you better. That's all."

Friends. She heard the word even though it didn't come out of his mouth. Without moving it, she shook her head in resignation – it was the word she was doomed to hear sooner or later.

"I just want to start over," he said softly. "Please."

Her gaze stuck to the table. The right thing to do was to tell him to get lost, to stand up and leave, to walk away from the whole stupid idea. But when she looked up into the pleading gray-green of his eyes, she simply couldn't do it.

"I'm not really dating anyone," she said, stating the obvious aloud, "so if you called me sometime, I might say 'Yes.'"

Brian smiled in relief. "That's all I'm asking."

OoOoO

By the time they were standing at the door to her apartment Rory's mind was saying she should've gotten out when she had the chance. Brian stood only inches from her although he never so much as reached out to her.

"So, I can call you sometime?" he asked, leaning his head to the side to get a look into her eyes.

She nodded before she looked up and smiled. "I had a good time tonight."

Instantly he smiled. "I'm glad."

He started to lean in, but for the first time that evening her rational side kicked in, and she turned, unlocked her door, and stepped inside. "Night."

"Night," he said just before the door closed between them.

Her eyes closed as she stood holding onto the doorknob. She exhaled slowly. Why she had accepted his offer wasn't at all clear in her mind. The only reason she could come up with was that she was simply tired of spending every night at home alone.

She dropped her purse onto the couch, went into the kitchen, and turned on the coffee. Besides, Brian wasn't so bad. He was cute and fun, and she really liked spending time with him. If her dream guy wasn't coming, she might as well have fun with the guy that showed up.

With that thought, she snapped of the light and trekked off to her bedroom. She would enjoy this while it lasted and the move on with no regrets. This time she was playing on her own terms.

OoOoOo

"So how was your date last night?" Logan asked, rolling an apple down his arm and catching it in the air.

"Good." Rory leaned back and looked up through the trees. "They broke up."

"I heard." He never looked at her as he bit into the apple noisily. "So I guess that means you're off the hook then."

"Yeah," she said softly. "I guess so."

He nodded. "That's good." He took another bite of apple and swung his lef to the side of the bench. "So, what are you doing for New Years anyway?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing, why?"

"No big parties?" he asked as the old feeling of comfort came back over him.

"Nah, I was just going to go to Stars Hollow to hang out with my mom. We'd watch the ball drop, throw some confetti in the air and eat lots of junk food. But they're going to New York with some friends so I'll probably just hang out at home"

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he bit into the apple again and thought about her place. "Well, you know, I really don't have any plans either, so maybe we could get together and not have plans at the same place.

She laughed at that.

"No big deal," he said with a shrug as a teasing grin played at the sides of his mouth. "If you get a better offer, I'll understand."

Rory knew there would be no better offer. "You're on."

OoOoOo

When her phone rang on Friday night, Rory fully expected it to be a telemarketer or a wrong number. "Hello?"

"Rory, hi. This is Brian."

Moisture invaded her palm. "Oh, hi."

"Sorry I didn't call you sooner. Things have been a little crazy around here. But I was just wondering if you might be free tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night?" she asked, pulling the phone cord to the floor as she slid down the cabinet. "Umm, yeah. I mean, no, I'm not doing anything."

"Oh, good." She heard his smile over the wires. "I was thinking about checking out the Deux Plex, and I was wondering if you might wan to join me."

"The Deux Plex?" she asked as the sirens immediately went off in her head. She debated his offer while her arm twirled through the phone cord. "I don't know…"

"I promise I won't make another scene. Promise."

Her eyes fell closed as she considered the offer. How could she say no? More to the point, why should she? "Okay."

"Okay?" he asked, as thought he hadn't her right. "Really?"

"Yeah, okay." She smiled, knowing she must be out of her mind.

OoOoOO

"Hello, you," Rory said when she unlocked her door to see Brian standing there. "Just let me pull my shoes on."

"Nice place," he said, ducking into her apartment with his hands dug securely in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Thanks." She buckled one shoe and smoothed the straight black skirt over her thighs again before bending and buckling the second one.

"This is a nice arrangement," Brian said, examining the plant on the corner shelf. "A split-leaf philodendron? Nice."

"My grandmother's idea." The buckle slipped into place.

"She has good taste."

Rory smiled and stood and took only one small step backward to get used to the news shoes. At this rate she would be broke by the end of the next month, but it was nice to have a reason to get some new clothes. Gilmore girls would do anything for a new outfit.

"Ready?" she asked.

He turned and smiled at her. "Yeah."

OoOoOo

The sunken floor of the Deux Plex was swirling in colors by the time they found a table on the railing.

"You want something?" Brian asked after she had been seated.

"Sure."

"What?"

"Coke, Sprite, whatever." She waited until he left before refocusing on the dance floor. Dancing twice in the same month? It was an unprecedented event in her life. Without really thinking about it, her finger ran itself around her heel just as Brian returned with their drinks.

"This place is pretty good," he said, pulling the wide armchair around next to hers.

"Yeah." She took a sip of the Coke from the tiny glass it had come in, and then she set it back on the table. Slowly her body began to unwind its coil of protection.

The dancers swayed in every direction, and she wished she had a sense of rhythm. Although Miss Patty insisted she had potential, she knew the truth. Rhythm had never been an asset Rory possessed. She felt the beat, but when her body tried to transfer it into movement, it never quite made it out with the same smoothness that it had gone in with.

"So you an only child?" Brian asked, leaning closer to her.

"Yea, for now. I'm sure it won't be long till I have a younger brother or sister though. My mom just got married about a year ago."

"Divorced?"

"Umm, no actually. She was never married." Rory said simply, leaving it at that.

"Oh." Brian watched her eyes as the patterns of color crossed her face. "You close to your mom?"

"Very," Rory said as she nodded her head. "I don't get to see her as much as I would like, life gets in the way sometimes."

"What about your dad?"

"He's around." Hoping to avoid his gaze, she grabbed her glass and turned to watch the dancers as a new song pounded from the speakers.

"You want to dance?"

The panic she felt on the phone returned. "Oh, I'm not very good."

"So, we'll be bad together," he said, standing and offering her his hand.

Seeing no other option, she took his hand and stood unsteadily. Praying that her feet wouldn't betray her and send her crashing to the floor, she followed him to the dance floor stairs.

"Careful," he said, turning slightly.

She negotiated the stairs one small step at a time and didn't let go of his hand until he had pulled her through the outer fringe of the crowd. The beat traveled through her to her feet, and her body began moving in time with it. In front of her he looked like a natural. His feet, his body, his head, they all moved in perfect rhythm.

Something about the total abandon his body exuded loosened the coil around her further. With each beat her body loosened until there wasn't a part of her that wasn't moving. Side-to-side, her hair flying patterns around her head. It was like being set free into the middle of a multi-colored dream.

The floor beneath them seemed to be pounding to the beat as well, and the crush of bodies around her seemed not so much frightening as simply insulation from reality. Here in the darkness she could move and have fun, and nobody had to know how unlike her this really was.

When her lungs felt like the were about to collapse, the beat mellowed and faded. Without asking, Brian moved closer to her and took her in his arms. That scent. Risk, she now called it, poured from him. And it was clear this time that the biggest risk of all came not form him but from her own heart. Falling for him would be easier than not.

Staying right here in the circle of his arms, her cheek on his shoulder. It would be easy to let him lead her anywhere he wanted to go.

OoOoOo

"Can I come up for awhile?" Brian asked at the outside door to her apartment.

She turned to him, wishing she could say yes. "I don't think so. I'm really tired. But thanks for tonight. I had fun."

Gently he took her hand and ducked his head. "So what are you doing for New Years?"

Her heart stumbled over the question as a picture of Logan flashed through her mind. "Not much, just getting together with some friends."

"Oh." Brian nodded slowly. "I figured I should've asked sooner."

"I can get out of it," Rory said quickly. "I mean, if you have something better in mind."

"Well, Dave scored some tickets for the David Bowie concert over at Philips Arena, I just thought you might like to go."

"David Bowie?"

"Yeah, you know, 'Lets dance, put on your red shoes and dance the blues…'" He took her in his arms and danced her around the top step before he stopped and looked at her. "What do you say?"

Her heart smiled for her. "I say it sounds like fun."

OoOo

Logan's heart had been on pause the whole night until he'd heard the front door open at two. He went to his door, knowing it was stupid but wanting to know anyway. He cracked it enough to listen, but there were no voices. Quietly he closed the door and crawled back into bed.

Although he had told himself it was ridiculous a hundred-thousand times, the thought of Brian taking Rory out cut right through him. When it was a plan not headed anywhere, it was different. But Mandy was out of the picture now, and the plan certainly hadn't included Rory taking Mandy's place – at least not in his mind.

"She's just a friend," Logan told his pillow as he rolled over, but even the ceiling didn't believe that anymore.

OoOoOoO

"We're still on for tonight, right?" Logan asked, swinging into her cubicle Monday morning, and just the sight of her brought a smile to his face.

"Oh, Logan, hey. I meant to call you," she said, looking up and there was pity in her eyes.

"Uh-oh." Without being asked, he stepped into the cubicle and sat down. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

She scrunched her face together. "You know how you said if I got a better offer, you'd understand…"

"I'm really not going to like this, am I?" He saw the flawless set of nails she laid on her desk between them.

"I feel really bad about this, but Brian has these great tickets to the David Bowie concert tonight."

"David Bowie?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know, 'Lets dance, put your red shoes on…"

"Yeah, I know who he is, but I didn't know that you liked him," he said, hearing the angry tinge in his voice.

"Well I do. You don't know everything about me, "she said in annoyance looking directly at him. "What? You never thought I would go to a Bowie concert? I'm boring, not dead."

He shifted self-consciously in the chair. "That's not what I meant."

"Well, that's what it sounded like to me."

"Look, Ace," he said, fighting to collect his scattering world. "I really appreciate you helping me out with the whole Brian-Mandy thing, but they're broken up now. You really don't have to see him anymore for my sake."

A sardonic laugh escaped from her throat. "Boy, you really are an egomaniac, you know that?"

The words hit him hard. "Where did that come from?"

"It came from me. Nice, little, sweet Rory who nobody wants to be anything more than friends with. Well, I'm dating Brian now. Now, I know that's probably a difficult concept for you to grasp, so I'll say it very slowly. He likes me – for real."

"For real?" Logan asked, surveying her skeptically. "That's not the real you. That's the you we made up."

For one split-second he thought she was going to come right across the desk at him, but then she closed her eyes, composed herself, and when she opened them again, there was nothing but ice in them. "Get out."

"Rory, I'm…"

"I said get out…Now."

"I didn't mean…"

"I know exactly what you meant. Now, get out."

Seeing no other option, he stood with a shake of his head and walked to the door where he stopped. "The New Years offer still stands."

"Yeah, well, don't hold your breath."

_So I hope I didn't disappoint anyone to much with the contents of the card. It would be way too easy if he professed his love, then the story would be over:) Please let me know what you think!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Thanks for all your comments! And someone asked if I was from Atlanta - I'm not but realize some of the places mentioned are in Atlanta._

The darkness surrounded them as they stood with lighters creating pinpoints of light all around the Philips Arena. Rory laid her head back against Brian, who pulled her in against him. As David Bowie sang on stage, Rory could feel herself falling for Brian.

His whiskers scratched her temple as she tried to make sense of this. If she had seen him walking on the street, she would never have even pictured them together, but they were here, and somehow they fit. As unbelievable as that was. They fit. For this one moment she could pretend that they were the most perfect couple ever to grace the planet.

When the song ended, Brian pulled his watch up in front of her and looked at it. "Five minutes and counting."

She smiled as butterflies jumped into her stomach. A kiss at midnight. Their first. Her nerves sent shivers up her back as David Bowie plowed right into a pounding rock song.

"You cold?" Brian asked in her ear.

"A little," she said softly, and his arms tightened around her. The butterflies danced to the beat as Brian's body moved both of them. She tried to sing along, but the words kept getting caught in the realization that this was actually happening. Her mind started to trace the parts of her body that were touching his, but midway down her shoulder blades she stopped the tour.

"Hey Boston!" David said from the stage when that song ended. Instantly the arena went into pandemonium. "This is it. You're going to have to count down with me now. Ready? Ten, nine, eight…"

"Seven, six, five," Brian said behind her.

"Four, three, two, one," she said softly. "Happy New Year!"

On a cloud Rory felt herself spin around until she was face-to-face with Brian. "Happy New Year, Rory."

"Happy New Year Brian."

His hand on her back pulled her in to his lips.

OoOoOo

Logan tipped up his third beer of the night and took a long swallow as the ball dropped in Times Square.

"Thrilling. Absolutely the best New Years I've ever spent," he said, tipping the bottle to the television in a toast.

He looked over at the empty couch, and his mind went on a little fantasy of what would've been happening right now if she had come. His arm would be around her ever-so-casually as it would've been for most of the night. He would lean toward her, and she would look at him with that hint of fear in her eyes. Softly he would brush a stray highlight off her temple as trust replaced fear. 'Happy New Year, Ace. I love you.'

And then his lips would touch hers, and everything in his life would make sense again.

"Damn," he said, shoving the dream away from him as he hit the channel button. Once, twice, three times. Everywhere they were celebrating. It was totally nauseating. After five more channels, he hit the off button plunging the room into silence.

With an exasperated sigh, he stood, picked up the bottles from the table and carried them to the kitchen. When everything downstairs looked presentable again, he climbed the stairs to his room. It made no sense, but instead of trying to put her out of his mind, he went over to his stereo, pulled out his David Bowie CD and popped it in the player.

As the first strains of Suffragette City wafted out of his speakers, he flopped on the bed and pulled the pillow to him. If this was what New Years felt like without her, he never wanted to see another one as long as he lived.

OoOo

"Now, that was an amazing concert," Brian said as he leaned against her doorframe.

"It was great," Rory said, fumbling with her keys, the heat from his kiss still burning on her lips.

"So, I guess it's time to say goodnight."

"I guess." Forcing her hands to stop shaking, she pulled the right key out.

Gently he reached up and touched the side of her hair. "I had fun, you know?"

"Me too," she squeaked out, fighting to get the key to fit into the lock.

"No," he said softly. He took hold of her arm and turned her to him. The laser intensity of his gray-green eyes forced the shaking in her hands to invade her entire body. Suddenly the element of risk she associated with him jumped into her consciousness. "I really had fun."

His hands wound around her neck, and he pulled her lips to his. The first touch was soft, a request, but in a heartbeat, it became more like a demand. She fought to calm the rising panic that invaded her entire being as with both hands she pushed him away.

"I've got to go," she said, fumbling with the keys.

The intensity in his eyes turned to frustration. "I don't understand. I thought you said you had fun."

"I did," she said, feeling a dire need to escape through the door that opened with absolutely no help from her.

"So, what's the problem?"

"No problem. I just really have to go. I'm sorry, I'm going in. Goodnight," and with that she slammed the door in his face.

She half-expected him to knock, but he never did, and after several minutes she finally started breathing again as she moved away from the door, and went to get ready for bed. Except for the last few seconds by the door, it had been a good night. No, a great night. One of the best in a long time, and she was determined not to let that last memory overtake all the others.

David Bowie played through her mind as her body relaxed into the pillows. If she was truly new Rory, she would've invited him in, and right now… She chopped that thought in half. Nobody was worth reneging on the promise she'd made to herself and the unspoken pact with her mom. She'd almost made that mistake with Dean a few years ago, but was glad she didn't.

She had seen the devastation those relationships caused, and although she knew she might lose him if she stood firm, she knew if he didn't accept her wishes, he wasn't someone she wanted to be with anyway. But still she couldn't help but hope he was someone who would accept her – just the way she was.

OoOoOoO

"How much do you know about Rory?" Brian asked the next afternoon as the Sugar Bowl played on the television.

They had moved their newest model, a business-front, to the coffee table so the could watch and work at the same time.

"Enough." Logan said although the glue skipped a little further than he had intended. "Why?"

Brian shrugged as a puzzled look cross his face. "I don't know. It just seems like sometime we're doing really great, and then all of a sudden she shuts down. Things are great and then wham, she slams the door in my face."

"Well, what did you do?" Logan asked, not really wanting to know the answer except that where Rory was concerned he was willing to ask.

"Nothing," Brian said, perplexed. "We've had four dates now, and still nothing. I got two kisses last night, but I think that was more about it being New Years than anything. I just can't figure it out."

That was really more information than Logan wanted to know, and he had to shove the picture of the two of them kissing away from his heart. "Maybe she's only out for a good time. Maybe you just happened to be there."

"That's just it. All during the date, she acts like she really wants to be with me, and then at her door, it's like she can't get away from me fast enough."

Logan glued a tree down and held it there. "Have you talked to her about it?"

"No," Brian admitted with a sigh. "It just seems strange talking about it, you know? Usually it just happens – no talking necessary. Like with Mandy. I mean, we met, we danced, we went back to her place…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Logan said, cutting him off. "And we know how well that turned out."

"True. I just wish I could figure out where Rory's coming from on this one."

"Talk to her," Logan said, wishing he could take a little of his own advice. "I'm sure she has a good reason."

OoOoOo

Logan and Rory ate lunch together the next afternoon, but nothing was said about her date of his solo New Years Eve. It just seemed safer that way.

"How's the ankle?" Logan asked when even the trees were louder than their conversation.

"Oh, great." She wound it around to prove it. "Thanks to this really great doctor I know."

"Oh, really? And who might he be?"

A half-smile played at the corner of her mouth. "You might know him. He's this guy I know. Just take my advice and don't let him talk you into the ice-hot torture. It's not worth it."

"It worked didn't it?" he asked, looking at her.

"Like I said, it's not worth it." She wadded her wrapper up and threw it into the trashcan. "You ready?"

"Sure." He stood at her side, and she started toward the elevators as he smoothed out his slacks and tie. His heart told him to just reach out to her, take her in his arms and say, 'Forget about Brian, I'm the one who loves you.' But he kept his distance. If friends was all she wanted, he would be happy with that. He would have to be.

OoOoOo

She wasn't surprised when Brian called to ask her out for Friday, what did surprise her was that instead of hitting a noisy club, he took her to Bushnell Park. Hand-in-hand they walked across the small wood chips to the swings as she did her best to figure out what was going on.

"Here you go," Brian said, holding a swing for her, and carefully she sat down, wishing her black jeans weren't quite so tight. "You good?"

"Yeah," she said, leaning back as he pulled her up and then swung her forward. In the dim amber light, it was difficult to remember that she wasn't actually flying. Once she was going full speed, he backed away and straddled the swing next to hers to watch.

"What's up? You chicken?" she said as she pulled her feet straight out in front of her and leaned all the way back.

"No, I'm just having fun watching you." He twisted in his swing as he leaned his face against the chain.

"You're missing out," she said, pulling her legs underneath her.

"No, I'm not."

The heat in his words flamed through her cheeks, and little-by-little she stopped pumping so that gradually her swing came to a halt by his side.

"What's the matter?" she asked with concern.

"You like me right?" he asked, and she heard the vulnerability in the question loud and clear.

"Yeah."

"So, why do you keep pushing me away?"

"Pushing you away?" She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm not pushing you away."

"Yes, you are. Every time we get to your door, you act like you can't wait to get away from me."

The chips at her feet crunched unseen as her lungs let go of every trace of air in them. "It's not you."

"That's hard to believe."

"No, it's really not. I just… It's me okay? That's just not what I want for my life."

"You don't want to have a little fun?"

"Not if it means jeopardizing my future."

"I don't understand."

"I know it's boring and old-fashioned but I don't want to do anything to ruin my chances of becoming a foreign correspondent. So I don't want to sleep with anyone until I know for sure we'll last." It was a statement she had never made out loud to anyone.

"So you're saving yourself for marriage?" he asked, puzzled, and she felt him pull away from her.

"I'm sure you don't understand. I mean I'm sure you're got girls falling all over you. Beautiful girls. Girls who don't think anything of jumping into bed when presented with the opportunity. But I'm not one of those girls – in more way than one."

"What does that mean?"

"It means this is all a sham," she said, holding her hands out to the sides. "That night we met, that wasn't me."

"It wasn't?" he asked slowly. "Okay, now I'm really confused."

"It's just… I'd had my hair done on a bet with a friend, and those clothes were more about putting on an act than how I normally dress."

His gaze burned through her. "But since then?"

She took a long breath and then shook her head. "When I met you and you seemed interested, I knew you wouldn't like the real Rory, so I kind of buried her under these clothes, hoping you wouldn't figure it out." Her swing twisted in the breeze as she sighed. "I know it wound rotten. It 's just that it was nice for someone to finally be interested in me, I guess I got carried away."

"So, you chanced your life around to… impress me?"

She laughed a little at that. "Yeah, I guess so. But I really didn't expect you to call again."

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't happen," she said, and the ache she thought she'd buried tore through the words.

"Rory." Brian's hand reached through the darkness and brushed her arm.

"No." Unsteadily she stood from the swing and started across the park, not really going anywhere other than way from the Rory she hated.

"Hey," Brian said, jumping from the swing and jogging to catch up with her.

"Look, I'm not stupid," she said, fighting the tears, "you expected one thing, and you got another. If you want to walk away right now, I'll understand. Hell, I wouldn't even blame you, I'm not sure I would stay."

"Now just stop right there." He reached out and arrested her flight. In a breath she found herself only inches from him, the tears of all the rejections in her past coursing down her cheeks. "Just because this is a little new for me doesn't mean I'm not willing to take it at your pace. We can go slow if that's what you want."

She shook her head. "But that's not what you want."

He shrugged. "It might be a nice change of pace."

"You're lying," she said, wiping the water stream from her cheeks.

"No, really I'm not."

Then she felt his hands slide from her arms, and he turned and started away fro her. Quickly she turned her own steps to catch up with him. Wordlessly they walked in lockstep, neither saying a word.

"I was supposed to be engaged by now," he finally said quietly as his feet kicked their way through the grass. "Dave didn't give me those David Bowie tickets. I bought them two months ago. I was planning to take Mandy to the concert."

Her heart filled her chest until she couldn't breathe.

"I was going to propose right after it." He walked several more steps over to a small bench and sat down. "Pretty lame, huh? I had the ring and everything, and then that night we met in the mall… I already knew I was going to prose then, but when I saw you… man, this sounds bad, but I never really thought about Mandy."

"You never thought about her?" Rory said incredulously. "But…?"

"Exactly." Brian shook his head in disgust. "The truly bad part is I really thought I was in love with her – I mean real love – the kind everybody dreams about. It wasn't until I saw her with that jerk at Kaya and then I saw the look on your face that I knew I'd really screwed up."

"So why didn't you go back to her?" It was a question that had hounded Rory since she'd first seen the bottle of Eternity on her desk.

"Because it wasn't real. Mandy and I had a great physical relationship, but that was about tit. Taking things slow was never I her vocabulary, and I guess it wasn't in mine either." He leaned back against the park bench and looked up into the ambient light painting the sky. "I don't think Mandy and I talked this much in all the time we were together combined. It's kind of nice."

Rory smiled. "Yeah, it is."

Hesitantly he turned to her, slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her head to his shoulder. "We'll go as slow as you want to. Okay? And don't worry about me, I'm pretty resilient."

As her eyes closed, she nodded and prayed that was the truth.

OoOoO

Brian and Rory had gone out every Friday and Saturday since The Plan had begun, and it was all Logan could do not to spontaneously combust every time Brian walked out the door. Over and over again Logan told himself they were too different and sooner or later they would come to that conclusion, and when they did, he would be there waiting to pick up the pieces of her shattered world.

For the hours when Brian was gone, Logan would put David Bowie on his ipod and wish that she was in his arms instead of Brian's. If only he and Brian weren't getting along so well, he'd just punch Brian's light out, sweep Rory off her feet, and carry her away. But the only time Logan really hated Brian was when he walked out the door to be with Rory. Every other time, it was as though they were long lost brothers, separated only by some horrible mix-up in the hospital.

In fact they had started decorating the living room with models they'd completed. While they worked, they mostly talked about football or business plans, but on a few occasions the topic had turned to Rory, and Logan's heart always found a watch to change the subject.

Mental pictures of them together were killing him. The worst part was that he could see the change I her everyday. She looked stronger, more confident, and more beautiful than she ever had, and Logan couldn't decide if that was because of Brian or because he'd finally stopped long enough to look.

It was the last week in January when Logan had helped with five models that he finally got curious enough to ask how to do a layout.

"Come on, I'll show you," Brian said, and together they were up to Brian's computer set up in his room. He sat down at the desk, and in seconds the computer was up and running. "Tunes."

With two clicks of the mouse, The Loneliest Guy cut right through Logan, and instantly he regretted asking about layout.

"Okay, basically, you look at the space. Usually you start with some kind of physical layout. Say for example there is a gasoline here and an existing set of trees here. It depends on what you're designing, but you need to plot out all the existing features first." He drew in a few more things and leaned back in the chair. "Then you just conceptualize the space in your mind. On here it's pretty easy to see how things will work or not work."

He clicked the mouse, and suddenly there was a fence with bushes in front of it. "Let's say you want a pond here, you just click over here, and lay it out where you want it." Instantly the pond appeared. "then you can lay a bridge over it." Click. Click, and the bridge appeared. "Most modern stuff is designed with very flowing lines. Think circles rather than straight lines."

Logan hadn't really thought about it, but with that bit of information, he suddenly saw a major component of all Brian's models.

"That's about it." Brian clicked a few more times, adding flowers and a small ornamental tree. "You want to try?"

"Sure," Logan said, wishing the song on the computer wasn't tearing his heart out. Carefully he sat down and took hold of the mouse.

"Just pick up some things and click and drag them around. Get used to it."

One click at a time, Logan worked, putting in and taking out trees, flowers, steps, bushes, fences. "Cool."

"Now, when you get something you like," Brian said, taking the mouse from Logan's hand, "you can click here, and get an elevation view of your design, see how it looks from the ground." The screen shifted. "Then you can spiral around it to get a look from different angles."

"That's unbelievable," Logan said truly fascinated. Logan resumed control of the mouse as Brian sat back and watched. "So how do you know which plants go where? Like that tree you didn't want."

"The elm?"

Logan nodded even as he continued working with the layout.

"I wouldn't put a Chinese Elm anywhere, but putting them next to a walk or next to lines is defeating the purpose."

"Why?"

"Their root system doesn't understand stop. They burrow through everything looking for water. You hear about sewage lines being clogged with tree roots a lot. Chinese Elms are some of the worst trees for that. That's one of the reasons you want to know about as much of the existing physical aspects of as it before you start designing. That way you can avoid landscaping something into a suicide trap."

"Interesting, and you learned all this in school?"

"Most of the computer stuff, but the plant stuff you've just got to work with. Learn the plants, make a few mistakes, and not keep making the same ones again."

"Huh." The mouse clicked as 'Can't Help Thinking About You' pounded through the speakers. "And how long have you been doing this stuff?"

"I got into it when I was about 12. I went to work mowing lawns over the summers like a lot of kids, but I guess it just stuck. I could spend hours out in a flowerbed weeding and pruning and deadheading. It was fun."

"Fun." Despite the day they'd had shoveling walks, Logan still couldn't picture himself elbow deep in a flowerbed.

"Just wait, you'll see."

OoOoOo

"Okay, I know you're learning all about football from Brian so who do you have?" Logan asked, swinging into Rory's cubicle on Thursday before the Super Bowl.

"Titans, 9; Giants, 8," she said proudly.

"You lucky girl." He slid into the chair and reached for the donuts perched atop her desk. "You mind?"

She waved him off. "So what do you have?"

"Titans, 2; Giants 1," he said mournfully before biting into his donut.

"My sympathies." She curled her hands onto the desk and leaned forward. "It could be worse, you could have 5."

"35. 35 is doable."

"12? That's four field goals." The look of disgust on his face made her laugh. "Hey it could happen."

"With Dawson kicking? Not in this lifetime." He grabbed another donut. "So, what are you and Brian doing for the big game "

Rory shrugged. "He talked about going over to the Sports Grill, but that's not really our scene. You know?"

Logan sat digesting his donut as the clock on the wall ticked off the seconds. "You guys could always come over to our place if you want."

"Oh, I don't know," she said hesitantly. "I'd hate to put you out."

"The game's going to be on my TV anyway, so you wouldn't be putting me out."

She smiled at him sadly. "I'll talk to Brian and see what's going on."

"Okay," Logan said softly as he looked down at his fingernails. "But think about it, okay?"

"I will."

OoOoOO

By the time Brian picked her up on Saturday night for the movie, Rory had been over and over Logan's invitation ten thousand times. On the one hand, she knew she couldn't stay away from Logan's place, and by logical progression, Brian's place forever, and yet spending time with both of them at the same time might send her coping mechanism into hyper-overdrive.

"Two for Winter Sky," Brian said at the ticket window and then stepped back and took her hand. "You want popcorn?"

Rory shook her head. "I'm not really hungry."

"You're not hungry?" Brian said, raising his eyebrows. "Okay. Here hang onto these, I'll be back." He handed her the tickets and disappeared into the crowd.

She had to ask him. Somehow she had to find a way to ask the question that she herself couldn't answer. Being here with Brian was a dream come true for her, and the last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize that. More than that, however, she didn't want to make Logan feel uncomfortable.

Ever since she and Brian had been going out, a wall had gone up between her and Logan. Before, they had been able to talk about anything, but every time she brought up the subject of Brian, a cloud formed in Logan's eyes, and so after awhile, she had simply stopped bringing the subject up.

"Ready?" Brian asked, striding up to her and offering her an elbow because both hands were full.

She smiled at him and pushed the questions to the back of her mind. Now she would enjoy this time. Later she would deal with the questions.

OoOoO

"You've been awful quiet tonight," Brian said at her apartment door as he held both of her hands in his. He leaned down to get a better look at her face. "Something wrong?"

"No. I just… I was wondering. Umm, Logan invited us to spend the Super Bowel at your place tomorrow night, and…"

Relief flooded through his face. "Cool. You told him yes, right?"

She looked up at him and smiled. "I didn't know what to tell him."

"Well, do you want to go over there?" he asked as uncertainty jumped into his eyes.

"Yeah. I just wasn't sure you did."

"It's my place, why wouldn't I?"

"No reason," she said, shrugging and wishing her heart didn't feel like it was standing in front of a speeding truck. "I guess I'll be there at three?"

"Sounds good," Brian said and leaned in to kiss her only once. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

She nodded as he let her hands drop. With one more smile, he turned for the stairs, and her heart fell. He had been the perfect gentleman, putting her wishes in front of his own. If she had asked for the most important things in a mate, she couldn't have gotten anyone more perfect than Brian, and yet, something was missing. Some piece that she couldn't quite figure out.

Shaking the feelings away, she turned and opened her door. Why can't I ever just be happy with what I've got? he's great, you're great together. Be happy and move on. But to her heart, it wasn't that simply because it wasn't Brian she wanted, and it never would be.

_A/N: I hope it doesn't seem like I'm dragging it out to much, for those who want Rory and Logan together right away. But I think stories are better if Rory & whoever end up together because they are right for each other, not because they're dating jerks (does that make sense?) Anyway, please review!_


	13. Chapter 13

The small gray shrimps lay in piles on the counter as Logan stood, shelling and listening for the doorbell. He had promised her a shrimp spaghetti dinner and his gut said if he didn't make the most of this opportunity, he might never get the chance again. Ingredients lined the stove, standing at attention, ready and waiting.

"That looks absolutely awful," Brian said, walking into the kitchen and pulling some cookies out of the cabinet.

"Hey, don't knock it until you try it," Logan said, peeling away the shell down to the milky white underbody.

"Well, don't call me 'til it's ready then." Brian took the cookies into the living room and set them on the coffee table.

"What time's she supposed to be here?"

"'Bout three," Brian said, pulling a cookie out and checking his watch. "Actually any time now."

"So what else did you get for snacks?"

"Popcorn, which I thought we could start on after dinner, chips and French onion dip, some cupcake things, Red Vines, skittles, and a gallon of Rocky Road. Rory wanted to get more but I had to cut her off."

Logan nodded even though Brian couldn't see him. "How about drinks?"

"Cokes and Sprites for Rory, Coors Lite and Bud for us."

As he scooped up the plate of peeled shrimp, Logan's heart dropped like a roller coaster. The fact that Brian knew Rory didn't drink often spoke volumes about how much Brian knew about her. Somehow Logan had convinced himself that Brian had fallen only for the illusion they had made up. But somewhere in the middle of that illusion had to be some truth, and that fact felt like a knife stab to his heart.

As he dumped the shrimp into the pan to sauté, the doorbell rang, and Logan's heart jumped into his throat. He heard Brian's footsteps fade to the door even as he willed himself to stay calm.

"Hey," Brian said when the door clicked open.

"Hello, you," Rory said happily.

Logan set his jaw at the familiarity of the greeting as he brushed the last shrimp into the pan and replaced the lid with a clatter.

"Come on in. We're just getting the food ready."

"Cookies? Impressive," Rory said, and the teasing tone in her voice brought a smile to Logan's face.

"Trust me. It's better than what Logan's making."

"Why? What's Logan…" Rory said, but the sentence stopped the second she glanced into the kitchen. Brian draped his arm firmly over her shoulders and led her into the kitchen.

"Shrimp surprise," Brian said, wrinkling his nose.

"Shrimp spaghetti," Logan corrected, forcing a smile onto his face as the heat of the memory of the two of them in her kitchen burned its way to the tips of his ears.

"I think I'll stick with the cookies," Rory said, leaning against Brian as he leaned against the counter. Casually Brian rested his arms on either side of hers.

In gray dress sweats, a white and gray striped shirt, and a peach sweat jacket, she struck the perfect balance between really dressed up and really casual, and something told Logan he wouldn't be watching much of the game.

"That's fine," Logan said, stirring the bubbling concoction in the pan and struggling to keep his voice nonchalant. "Keep your cookies, I wasn't going to share my spaghetti anyway."

Rory laughed. "That doesn't surprise me. You never were much on sharing."

"Oh, yeah? Well, see if I bring you donuts again. I'll just say 'No, sorry. I don't share. Go get your own.'"

She smirked at him. "You would do that, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I would." Logan smiled at her, and their gazes met for one second, but Brian's presence wrapping around her slammed Logan back into reality, and he looked away to concentrate on the dinner preparations.

"Oh, man, you've got to come see the models we've been working on," Brian said, sliding away from the counter and leading her into the living room as Logan shifted his jaw again. "This is a park. It's the first one we did."

"It's amazing," Rory said.

Logan dried his hands on the first available towel and threw it onto the counter. Seeing her reaction to the models was every bit as important to him as it was to Brian.

"Look at this bridge." She sat on her heels to get a better look. Carefully she reached through the surrounding trees and touched the bridge as though walking through the park in her mind. "And the bench. It's so perfect."

"I designed it, but Logan put it together," Brian said before he smiled over her head at Logan who forced a smile onto his own face.

Brian's hand reached down and rested on her back as Logan's protective side jumped out. With a shove, he forced it back down, but his eyes didn't miss the familiar way Brian rubbed his hand across her back as she sat, chin on wrists, examining the model.

"How did you come up with this?" she asked, turning to Brian, and although Logan couldn't see her eyes, he knew exactly how they would look.

Brian shrugged. "It's based on a park back in Denver. I always thought if the right person could get their hands on it, they could work magic with the space."

"The right person, like you?" she asked as her voice turned to liquid.

Logan's heart crashed into his shoes, and without announcing his departure, he tiptoed away from them back into the kitchen.

"This one was the second one we finished," Brian said, pointing across the room to the entertainment center next to the television. "It's a backyard."

Although he told himself looking was a very bad idea, Logan glanced out of the kitchen on to the cozy scene in the living room. Rory sat down on the floor as Brian pulled the model off the shelf and set it on the coffee table in front of her.

"Geez. Look at the detail in this walk," Rory said appreciatively tracing her finger across it as Brian folded himself beside her. "The shading is perfect for the rest of the plants – this peach and the pink – it really brings out these flowers."

"Logan did the walk," Brian said without the slightest hint of anything other than admiration in his voice. "In fact, we're going to start on one he came up with this week."

"Logan?" Rory asked, looking up in disbelief.

"Yeah, you should see it." Brian pushed himself up from the coffee table, and he ran up the stairs. "Just a second. I'll get it."

Rory's gaze never lifted from the model, and Logan enjoyed watching her examine the workmanship. True, it was mostly Brian's work, but Logan had had a hand in it too, and that kept his gaze on hers.

"How do you do these benches," she called, and for one split-second the words were on Logan's tongue in reply.

"Mostly I just start with something functional, and then I try to bring in something from the surrounding area," Brian said, descending the stairs two at a time. "Like this one, it has the pond in the background, so I did the frog detail on the bench. It pulls the two elements together."

"That's amazing," Rory said with an admiring smile.

"Here's the one Logan did." Brian sat next to her with the design Logan had worked on for five hours while Brian was out on Saturday night. Brian handed it to her, and Logan could no more tear his gaze from her face than keep the sun from rising the next morning.

"Oh my gosh. My mom would go crazy for this," Rory said instantly. "She's looking to redesign the landscaping for the inn she owns. Look at the little birdfeeder and the statue with the flowers around it. It looks like something out of a magazine."

"We're going to make that model next," Brian said, "although I'm not sure where I'm going to find a miniature statue like that."

"Well, when it's finished, I want to see it," Rory said, taking one more long look at it before handing it back to Brian.

"You got it," Brian said happily, as his gaze chanced on the television. "Oh, hey, it's kickoff." He picked up the remote, and the whole living room sounded like it had just been transplanted into the stadium.

Rory wrinkled her face as Logan come out of the kitchen, towel in hand.

"Hey, if the neighbors want to hear it, they can get their own TV," Logan said, stopping the television and dropping the volume six notches.

"Thank you," Rory said.

The Giants kicked off, and after only a short run, they dropped the Titan's return man.

"And hearts break all over Vegas," Logan said.

Brian laughed. "I'm going to put this away." He disappeared up the steps.

Without bothering to watch the next play, Logan turned back for the kitchen. He felt her presence following him, and it was everything he could do to keep his heart in his chest.

"So I guess this means the moon is full," she said, leaning against the counter in a way that made the wires in his mind short circuit.

"Yeah, and the tides are out on the East Coat," he said with a small smile. He lifted the pot lid with the bubbling tomato sauce. "Here, taste this."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Is it safe?"

"I haven't put the shrimp in it yet. Come on."

Gamely she pushed away from the counter and walked over to his side. He dipped the sauce-coated wooden spoon into the red liquid.

"Careful, it's hot," he said, cupping a hand under it and offering it to her.

"Whew!" She jumped back the second it touched her tongue. "You're not kidding that's hot! Geez." Quickly she ran to the sink and cupped her hands under the streaming water before drinking as much as she could get to her lips.

"It's not that hot," he said with a touch of annoyance before he dipped the spoon back in the sauce and put it to his own lips. "Or maybe it is."

She laughed as he took her place at the sink. When he came back up for air, his eyes had liquid in them.

"Holy Moly that's hot."

"I tried to tell you," she said, crossing her arms petulantly.

"Yeah, and next time I'm going to listen to you."

"Hey, are we cooking or watching football?" Brian said, striding into the kitchen.

Instantly they stepped away from each other, and their laughter evaporated.

"Football," Rory said, moving from Logan's side, and he felt the chill with every step she took away from him.

OoOo

"Here you go, Ace," Logan said, turning the plate around as he offered it to her.

"If I die, I'm sending you the bill," she said, accepting the plate with concern.

Logan handed Brian the other plate. "Send it on." Without waiting for their reaction, he walked back into the kitchen. "What do you want to drink?"

"Coors Lite, "Brian called.

"Coke for me," Rory said, and then Logan heard their stifled laughter, and he willed the jealously down. Tonight was about having fun with friends, and he wasn't going to do anything to mess either friendship up.

"Okay, on three," Brian whispered just loud enough for Logan to hear. "One, two, three."

The only sounds from the living room were the commentators' voices.

"So?" Logan asked, carrying the drinks out.

Rory nodded as the surprised crossed her face. "It's good."

"I told you," Logan said as her smile warmed him right to the core. "See, you should learn to listen to me."

"One thing, and he thinks he's got a lock on all the secrets of the universe," Rory said to Brian teasingly.

"Be careful we won't be able to get his head out the door," Brian said with a shake of his head.

"Thank you so much," Logan said in mock annoyance. "Yes, Logan, it's really good, Logan. Oh, really? Where did you get the recipe, Logan? A childhood secret recipe you say? Could I have it?" He turned as though answering his own question. "Well, I could give it to you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Oh, sit down and shut up," Brian said, picking up the remote and punching the volume button to drown out Logan's theatrics.

"Fine," Logan said petulantly. "If nobody likes my cooking, then I'll just leave." He started for the kitchen.

"It really is good," Rory offered seriously.

Logan smiled at her gratefully before ducking into the kitchen to get his own.

"No!" Brian screamed, jumping to his feet.

"Yes! Yes!" Rory screamed as she set her plate on the coffee table. "Touchdown, Titans! There's seven!"

Plate in hand, Logan ran back into the living room and turned to watch as he took his seat in the chair. "What happened?"

"End run around the right side," Rory said still celebrating.

Brian sat back in disgust. "I never should have taught you about football," he said turning to Rory. "And how could you betray me and cheer for the AFC team?" he said planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Ahh, poor baby." Rory ran her hand up and down Brian's leg. "I'll remember to send you a sympathy card tomorrow."

"Uh-huh, you do that," Brain said.

From his chair, Logan watched them, and as much as it hurt, he had to admit they seemed very happy together. If he couldn't have her, he knew that Brian would take good care of her. She was lucky to have him.

OoOo

"Hey, Logan, what did you say your numbers are?" Rory asked as he was finishing the kitchen.

"2 and 1, why?"

"Who's which?"

"Titans 2." Logan grabbed his beer from the counter and crossed in front of them to the chair. "Why?"

"They have 12 right now," Rory said. "Remember they had that safety in the second quarter?"

"I'm not holding my breath," Logan said, genuinely liking everything about this situation other than the seating arrangement. "My luck they'll score again."

Brian grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Don't count on it."

"Hey," Rory said, taking a pillow from the couch edge and whacking him with it. "Don't talk about my team like that."

"Two months ago you knew nothing about football, you can't have a team," Brian said, surprised by the attack.

"Yes I can, and tonight it's the Titans, so watch your mouth."

"Do you see what I have to put up with?" Brian asked, picking popcorn off the front of his sweater.

"Well, you were dumb enough to ask her out," Logan said, tipping his beer bottle at them.

"Hey, I was on your side," Rory said petulantly.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Sorry." Logan smiled sarcastically at her and took another drink.

Suddenly Rory sat straight up. "He caught it! Yes! Go! Go!"

"Oh, no, no, no," Logan set his beer on the little table as he grabbed a pillow and rolled onto the floor.

"Touchdown, Titans!"

"Ah, man." Logan slapped the floor. "There goes $400 down the drain."

"Too bad," Rory said teasingly. "But hey, good for me."

Logan shook his head. "Yeah, but the Giants have 14. That means they have to have two more touchdowns, so if you win, your teams loses."

"Yeah," Brian said, jumping into the middle of the conversation. "So there."

Rory sat back and pulled the pillow to her. There was no winning the argument so she didn't try.

"That shut her up," Brian said, tipping his bottle to Logan who nodded in victory.

Without taking her gaze off the TV, Rory leaned forward and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Umm, good popcorn."

"So she changes the subject," Logan said, sitting up against the front of the chair.

"Fine." Rory leaned back. "I'll just sit here and not say another word."

"Now that I'd like to see," Logan said.

"It ain't going to happen," Brian said with a laugh as he put his arm around her shoulders. "Nope, not going to happen."

She made it without a word until the final 15 seconds of the game, the Titans were down 21-19, but they had the ball and were picking their way down the field.

"Come on, guys." Logan grabbed the pillow again and scooted closer to the TV. "Just get in Dawson's range."

"And where would that be?" Brian asked. "Right under the goal post?"

Rory leaned forward and cupped her mouth in her hands. "Come on, ten more yards."

"Don't fail me now guys," Logan coached from the safety of his living room. "Third and five. Oh my God, I can't watch." He rolled over and put the pillow over his eyes. "Tell me what happens."

"What do you say we don't tell him, and we split his money if he wins," Brian said.

"Deal," Rory said with a laugh. "Oh, no, come on. What are you doing? Don't do that!"

"What?" Logan yanked the pillow from his eyes just as the quarterback scrambled out of the pocket.

"You idiot!" Rory yelled at the screen. "Run! Look down the field! Throw it!"

Skirting the sideline, the quarterback ran out of bounds, stopping the clock, and then Dawson trotted out on the field.

"Oh, no, I don't believe this," Logan said, clutching the pillow. "Dawson, listen, man. I'm so sorry for every bad thing I've ever said about you. Just one field goal. Okay? Come on. How hard can that possibly be?"

On the screen little number 2 set up for the field goal as every movement in the living room stopped.

"It's up." Rory stood from the couch. "No, go left, left."

At the last possible second the ball clipped the right upright and fell through the goalpost.

"It's good!" Rory screamed, flinging both hands into the air in victory.

"Yes!" Logan turned, and their hands met in celebration. "They did it! Way to go Dawson! $400 here I come!"

"And the Titans won," Rory said with a smile as she flopped down so close to Brian, she might as well have been sitting on his lap. She patted his knee sympathetically. "Sorry, Honey."

"No, you're not."

"No, I'm not," she said with a teasing grin. "But there is good news"

"What's that?" Brian asked.

"The loser gets to give the winner a kiss."

"Oh, well, that make things much better." Oblivious of Logan, Brian wrapped both arms around her and twisted her into his lap.

In one instant all thought of victory vanished from Logan's thoughts. He had just lost the most important thing he'd ever wanted and there would be no comeback victory for him.

OoOoOo

Rummaging around the kitchen for anything to do to keep his hands busy, Logan loaded and then reloaded the dishwasher. The kitchen was clean. Everything was in its place, abut he couldn't escape – not with them saying goodnight at the door. Watching one more kiss might kill him.

After an interminable wait, he heard the door close, and finally he breathed again. She was gone.

"Well that was fun," Brian said, striding into the kitchen as Logan closed the dishwasher.

"Yeah, it was."

"So, what do you think of Rory?"

"She's great."

Brian leaned against the counter. "It's really weird how life works out something you know?"

"How's that?"

"Bumping into her at Rich's that night. I mean what are the odds? There must've been a million people at the mall that night, and it's not like that's one of my hangouts, and yet where I meet the woman of my dreams."

Logan nodded. His heart too much to say anything.

"She's just so amazing." Brian shook his head and smiled. "Well, I've got to get some sleep. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Yeah," Logan said as the pain washed over him. He had thought he could handle the two of them being together. He had convinced himself that it wouldn't tear his heart out, but he was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. He had to find a way to tell her, or he might as well just lie down in a hole and let them throw the dirt in over him.

_Read? Review please!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Thanks for your comments. lexhuntzberger, you're reviews always make me laugh:) And thanks to those who review all the time, I appreciate it._

OoOoOo

With butterflies swarming in his stomach, Logan swung into her cubicle Monday morning. "Congratulate me. I've just collected my winnings."

"Oooh, wow," she said as her eyes widened at the stack of cash in his hand. "So what are you going to do with it?"

"Well, I thought we could go out and celebrate."

She backed up in her chair, confused. "We?"

"Sure, why not? If you hadn't been cheering for the Titans the whole way, I wouldn't be sitting here with a wad of cash in my hands right now. So what do you say? Long lunch?"

Her hesitation lasted only a second. "Sure."

OoOo

Expertly Logan pulled his car up to the curb in front of the Hyatt Regency.

"I thought we were going for lunch," Rory said, clutching her handbag tighter.

"We are Goofy," he said, but the smile that emanated from his heart said that he wished it was for more than just lunch. He got out and ran around to her side to open her door.

"Well, thank you." She stood from the car and pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes as the breeze caught it.

"You're very welcome." Resisting the urge to reach out and take her hand, he walked by her side to the door where he managed to reach around her and pull it open.

She stepped onto the brownstone floor and hesitated about which way to go next.

"This way," he said, lightly touching her back, which sucked the air right out of his lungs. He pulled the next door open.

"Avanzare?" Rory asked in astonishment. "Logan, are you sure about this?"

But he had already guided her to the check in desk. "Reservations for Huntzberger."

The hostess smiled and picked up two menus from the counter. "Right this way."

Logan was enjoying Rory's surprise immensely as the hostess guided them across the restaurant to a table two feet from a huge blue aquarium teaming with fish of every color.

"When you say 'Celebrate,' you're not kidding are you?" Rory whispered as she took her seat across from him.

"No, I'm not." Even as he opened his menu and located his choice for lunch, he watched her. She sat in awe scanning the menu, and he smiled at the picture she made. It was an image he would remember for the rest of his life.

When the waitress came back, they ordered, and then they were left alone. Rory laid her chin on her hand to gaze into the aquarium.

"Nice, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah."

He watched her, not quite sure that she wasn't just looking at the fish to avoid looking at him. But she looked so mesmerized, he couldn't justify tearing her attention from the fish, so he simply sat and watched her watch them.

Their drinks arrived before she turned her attention back to the table. "Okay, so this is what you're doing with 395 dollars of your winnings. What are you going to do with the other five?"

Logan smiled. "I don't know, maybe I could buy a Frisbee and got to the park.

"Sounds like fun." She took a sip of her Coke. "So when are we going?"

"Who said I was taking you?"

"You took me here. I don't think the park would be such a stretch."

He laughed. "So, did you have fun last night?"

"Yeah, you know I really did."

"You sound surprised by that."

She shrugged. "It's kind of fun to go out and do stuff. I haven't really done very much of that."

"You have recently," he said and immediately hated himself for it.

"Yeah, I have." Her fingers entwined on the table for a second, and then she laid her chin onto her hand and stared at the fish again.

"So, how's that going? You and Brian I mean?"

A small smiled crossed her face. "Good. Great, I mean. Great. He's really sweet."

"But?" Logan asked, scanning her profile.

"I don't know. I just never thought I'd fall for somebody like him."

"Why not?"

"Because his idea of a good time is going out to Kaya," she said with a laugh. "Can't you just see it? Me, at Kaya."

Actually he could see it a little too clearly for his own comfort. "So, why don't you tell him that?"

Rory shrugged. "He's nice, and he's been so understanding about everything." She turned back to the table and took a drink. "Besides, it's not like I've got a lot of other offers lined up, and I'm sure sooner or later he'll come to his sense and call it off."

Logan's gaze fell to the table where his fingers wound themselves through the napkin. "So, what if he doesn't… come to his senses, I mean? What if he doesn't call if off?"

"Well, I could do a lot worse."

The waitress picked that moment to set two salads in front of them. Each lost in their own thoughts, the ate slowly until the salads were nearly gone.

"Sandra asked about you the other day," Logan said, hunting for any topic that seemed safe.

Rory smiled and twisted her finger through one curly lock. "I really should go back down there and thank her. Who would've thought a mere mortal could make so much difference?"

"She didn't do all that much. She just brought out what was already there."

"Uh-huh," Rory said with a sarcastic nod. "And we all believe that."

"Why do you say that?"

"Give me a break. You were as surprised as I was." She leveled her fork at him. "And don't try to deny it either."

"Okay, I was a little surprised, but you can't make a rainbow out of mud."

Her gaze dropped to her salad. "Yeah, well, it was only on the outside. On the inside, still mud."

His forehead furrowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means that at some point, the earth will shift back onto its axis, and everything will go back to how it was before. I'm just getting ready for it now."

Logan stabbed a fork into his salad, knowing in his heart that things would never be how they were before.

OoOoOo

When Logan dropped her off at her cubicle after lunch, Rory sat unmoving for a full three minutes, convinced she had just awaken from a dream. The fish, Avanzare, Logan. Yes, it had to be a dream, that was the only logical explanation for it.

The phone rang at her elbow, and she reached for it, still in the clutches of the dream. "Features, this is Rory."

"Hi," Brian's voice brought her back to reality with one word.

"Hello, you," she said, forcing a smile into her words. "What's up?"

"Where've you been?"

"Long lunch."

"Oh, well, my mom just called, she's flying in on business tonight," Brian said. In one heartbeat the words reached up and strangled the air right out of her lungs. "I thought we could all go out tonight so you can meet her."

"Tonight?" she asked, choking on the word.

"Yeah, how does six-thirty sound?"

"Umm, well, that… that sounds fine," she said slowly as fear clawed its way up her chest.

"Great. I'll see you at six-thirty."

"Okay." She didn't hear the end of the conversation because he heart was pounding too loudly in her ears. As soon as the phone was in the cradle, she was out of the chair. In a breath she was standing in front of Logan's desk in an all-out panic. "His mother's coming."

Logan looked up at her and concern slid onto his face. "Who's mother?"

"Brian's." It was all she could do to get the syllable past the fear.

"When?"

"Tonight. They're picking me up at six-thirty. Oh, my God. I'm not ready for this. What if she hates me?"

"Not likely."

"Yeah, right. Come on Logan, this is serious." The fear was pulling tears out of the back of her skull. "I can't do this. What if I screw up and totally humiliate myself? This is a disaster."

"Okay, wait a minute, let's just calm down for a second." He stood, took hold of her arms, and deposited her in the chair. "Now, it's not like this is the end of the world."

"I don't know about that."

"Well, I do." He pulled the other chair over and sat down facing her. "Okay, the first thing you need to do is breathe."

She took a small, shallow breath that burned her lungs like fire.

"No, a real breath. Come on, one real breath."

Once more she tried, and this breath got only slightly farther than the first.

"You know, if you don't breathe, you're going to pass out before she gets here, and then you won't have to worry about meeting her."

Despite the fear, she laughed at that, and once again oxygen reached her screaming lungs.

"Better." He nodded, and then seriousness took over again. "Now, I'm sure she's a very nice person – not some monster with six heads."

"Yeah, but meeting his mother? Do you know what this means? I didn't think I'd be meeting his mother like for another year or two."

"A year or two?" He laughed. "Well, it's going to happen a little sooner than that."

She closed her eyes in despair. "How did I get myself into this?"

"It's going to be all right. I promise." Gently he wrapped his arms around her. "You'll be great."

OoOoOoO

The only thing left in her closet by 6:15 were hangers. Clothes lay scattered from the bathroom to the bedroom. Nothing seemed right. Too frumpy for Brian, too tight for his mother.

In the bathroom she pulled her hair up and stuck a clip in it. "Better. Okay, I can do this. I just need to focus. Focus." She started out of the bathroom and tripped over a discarded skirt on the floor. "Get a grip."

With a frustrated gaze she went back over her choices, until at last she chose the blue patch dress she'd worn for a Christmas party two years ago. It wasn't great, but once it was on, she had to admit it wasn't bad either. Quickly she pulled a shoe one on as she hoped into the bathroom.

Her free hand opened the medicine cabinet, and she pulled out the little square bottle. Even through the fear and the rush, she smiled. This little bottle had changed more things than she ever thought possible in her life. She sprayed a mist into the air and ducked under it as she had seen her mom do when she was younger.

The thought of her mother brought a familiar pang to her heart, but she pushed it away. She wasn't Lorelai. No, she, Rory had learned from every mistake Lorelai had ever made, and although the odds were totally against it, she had found a guy that respected those lessons.

As she struggled wit her earrings, the intercom buzzed. "Oh, Lord, they're here." In a whirlwind of clothes and shoes, she yanked everything up from the floor and threw it all into her room with one heave. She shut the door and then noticed the purple and beige scarf still caught in the door. With one motion she opened the door, pushed the scarf in, and slammed the door just as the intercom buzzed again.

Her gaze surveyed the apartment critically as she walked through it to buzz them up. "Hello?"

"It's us," Brian said.

The butterflies flitted around her as she hit the unlock button. "Come on up." Nervously she straightened the couch pillow and rechecked her reflection one more time before the doorbell rang. "Okay, breathe."

Oxygen deprivation was a definite possibility as she swung the door open.

"Hi," Brian said, a smile shining form his eyes as he leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. "You look great."

"Thanks." Rory stepped out of the doorway. "Please, come on in."

Brian stepped back for the small woman standing gat his elbow to cross in front of him. She stepped past Rory, who was glad when Brian put his arm around her. Balance and familiarity were in short supply at the moment.

"Rory, this is my mom Joy."

"It's nice to meet you," Joy said, extending her hand with a smile. "Brian's told me so much about you."

Rory's gaze dropped to the carpet even as she fought with her polite side to hold the woman's gaze. "I hope it's not been too bad."

"Oh, no. Not at all. He seems quite taken with you."

"Mom," Brian said, ducking his eyebrow to his thumb in embarrassment.

"It's okay, Brian. I'm pretty sure she knows that already," Joy said, waving him off.

Despite the fact that her lungs felt like they were going to explode any second, Rory laughed.

"Well, shall we go?" Brian asked not meeting Rory's gaze when she looked at him.

"Let's."

OoOoOO

The carpet at Rory's feet felt like clouds. Although unabashedly forward, Joy was much nicer than Rory had expected – no six headed monster at all. And the best part was she more intent on embarrassing Brian than on needling his girlfriend.

"He was always the cutest little thing. He w would take his little spray bottle around and water my plants for hours," Joy said over her pasta. "'My helping' he'd say. 'My helping.'"

Rory glanced at him and smiled. She could picture him running around the plants. His olive skin standing out in contrast to his diaper.

"And let me tell you this boy has got the greenest thumb I've ever seen. I had this plant one time. An azalea or something like that. I did ever blessed thing you could do wrong with that thing. Over-watered it. Under-watered it. Too much sun. Not enough sun. You would've thought I was beating his sister. He'd come home everyday form school and find something I'd done wrong with that thing."

"'Mom,' he'd say, 'if you want to kill it, why didn't you just dump it over in the front yard?'" Joy laughed. "Let me tell you I'd hate to think what he'd have done if he'd have come home to that plant dumped on the front lawn."

"You still have it too though, don't you?" Brian asked.

"Yes, I do." A sad smile crossed Joy's face. "I had to keep something around to remind me of you."

Rory watched the mother-son moment pass between them, and she smiled. "Well, I for one am glad he didn't stay in Denver. The gardens here can use every inch of his green thumb. Did you know he's been working on models?"

"Designs?" Joys asked surprised.

"Yeah, and they're good too. You'd be impressed."

The look on Joys' face said she already was – with more than just her son's horticulture ability. "I'm sure I would be."

OoOO

"I had a nice time," Rory said as he walked her up the steps to her apartment. Joy had politely said it was too cold for her to get out.

"Me too," Brian said. "I think Mom likes you."

"I like her too."

"Thanks for coming tonight," he said softly. "It meant a lot to me." He leaned toward her and brushed her lips gently. "By the way, I love that perfume. What is it?"

"Eternity," she said, ducking in embarrassment.

"It's nice," he said with a smile. "I'll call you tomorrow?"

She nodded as he let go f her hand and leaned in for one more kiss.

"I"ll see ya."

When she made it up to her apartment, the relief flooded over her. She walked into the kitchen and turned on the light. Her nerves needed something after the circus they had been through tonight, so she pulled the apple cider down and set a cup of water in the microwave.

The fact that she had actually survived the evening was such great news that she wanted to share it with someone. The smell of apple cider wafted through the room, and she thought about Logan. He had been there today to calm her nerves and make everything better. He was good at that. The least she could do was thank him.

Trying not to let her head talk her out of hit, she picked up the phone and dialed his number. It clicked on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello, you," she said softly as her heart skipped a beat. "I just wanted to call and say thanks."

"For what?"

"For not letting me go too crazy today. Joy's nice."

"I'm glad," he said as her microwave dinged. "So you didn't get eaten by the six-headed monster then?"

"Nope." Balancing the phone on her shoulder, she opened the microwave and pulled the steaming cup out. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." His voice faded out over the wires. "Enjoy your apple cider."

"I will."

"Night, Ace."

"Night." She hung up the phone and sat down at the table with her cup. Then she looked down and smiled. He knew her too well.

OoOoOO

It was Ground Hog day when Rory walked into Logan's cubicle and made her announcement. "I've decided to ask him to my parents' house."

The pen in his hand skipped across the paper. "Your parents' house?"

"Yeah." She sat down without even being asked, "I mean, I met his mother. That means something right? So I'm thinking, he really should meet my parents before anything serious happens."

Anything serious. Logan didn't like the implications of that phrase at all. "I don't know." He leaned back in his chair and pushed his pen around in his fingers. "This is a big step."

"I know." For a moment her shoulders slumped forward, and then she sat up straight. "But he's a nice guy, and I'm sure my mom and Luke will like him, so what am I waiting for?"

He pulled his hands apart. "Nothing."

She looked at him, and he saw the decision solidify in her eyes. "That's what I thought."

OoOoOoO

"Valentine's Day on Thursday and then going to meet her parents Sunday?" Brian asked in distress when he'd hung up the phone that evening. "Oh my gosh."

"What's the big deal?" Logan asked with a shrug. He was in no mood to be the supportive coach. "She met your mom."

"That was different."

"Why?"

"Because that was her!"

"That's very brave of you," Logan said with a nod.

"I don't know about this." Brian sat down at the table like he was shell-shocked. "I thought we were taking this slow."

"You're meeting her parents, not getting married."

The look in Brian's eyes said that was only one step away.

"Besides, you should be excited about this. It's your first chance to meet the in-laws," Logan said, thinking he was teasing, but it didn't sound like teasing to his own ears. "What were you going to do – wait until you're engaged to meet them like you did with Mandy?"

The name brought both of them crashing back to the table.

"How did you know I never met her parents?" Brian asked as his eyebrows knitted in the middle of his forehead.

Logan shrugged. "You never mentioned it. I just assumed."

Brian nodded satisfied with the answer although the real answer coursing through Logan's brain was that although he had actually been engaged to Mandy, he'd never met her parents either.

"It just seems so strange to be so serious without really being serious." Brian said.

"How do you mean?

"Well, Rory has this thing about taking it slow, and that's fine now. I mean it wasn't at first. At first I thought she was crazy, but then, I don't know, it kind of takes the pressure off, you know? We just go out and have fun, and there's no cloud of expectation hanging over our heads. But this… this gives new meaning to the word 'expectation'."

Logan was fighting his way through the words "taking it slow". It fit Rory like a glove, but it looked more life chafing glass on Brian. "So, by taking it slow…"

"Kissing only, and that's if I'm real lucky."

"And you're okay with that?"

A smile shone through Brian's eyes. "Rory's worth it."

"Then you shouldn't have any trouble with her parents – they'll see how much you love her, and they'll love you for it."


	15. Chapter 15

Logan felt like he'd just stumbled into the middle of a cyclone on Valentine's Day, and he wasn't at all sure which of the three of them was closer to being hauled off to an asylum. By the time Rory left work, he had asked her three times if she would be able to make it home in one piece, and Brian wasn't much better when he got home.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Brian asked every five seconds. The shirt, the pants, the tie – Logan had never seen a tie around Brian's neck, and he was surprised there was even one in his closet. They had a ten minute search for his keys as Brian ran around the apartment, a box of a dozen roses in hand, screaming, "Where are my keys! I know I put them right here!"

In the end Logan had found them in Brian's jean pocket on the bathroom floor.

"Are you sure I look all right?" Brian asked, turning one more time at the door.

"Here." Logan reached out and adjusted Brian's tie with a small jerk. "Perfect."

Brian breathed his smile and excitement down in one gulp. "Wish me luck."

"Luck," Logan said as the pain screeched through his heart.

"Don't wait up," Brian said, and the phrase pulled Logan's hands into fists.

If the person in front of him had been anyone but Brian, he would have knocked him flat. But Brian would respect her feelings, and Logan had to admit that was more than he had done in the past.

The door closed behind Brian, and Logan sighed. He could see her as though she was standing right in front of him. Balancing on heels that were a little too high, pulling at a dress that was a little too tight, pushing the ringlets out of her eyes. Shoving the air away with the picture, he went upstairs.

If nothing else, he could get some work done on the model they had started. He carried it carefully down the stairs, slid the David Bowie CD into the player, and made believe that he was designing their backyard. It was the only thing that took the pain away. Pretending. And something told him, he might live the rest of his life pretending.

OoOoO

Kaya was crowded by the time they arrived, and the heels were already pinching Rory's feet. She stepped carefully so as not to aggravate the blister she was sure was forming on her toe.

"There's a place over here." With his hand on her back, Brian guided her though the crowd. "Man, this place is insane."

"Yeah," she said thinking that she didn't remember the music being so loud the last time they were here.

"You want something?"

"No, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." When he was gone, she sat, wishing she could convince herself she was fine as easily as she had convinced him. For some reason the guitars seemed screechier tonight, and the lights more chaotic. "You just need to dance and unwind a little."

"Geez, you'd think I'd asked for a hand grenade instead of a simple Coke," Brian said, setting a Coke in front of her. "The act like they've never heard of the stuff."

"I said I didn't want anything."

"I know, but I thought you might later."

"Oh." She turned her focus to the dancers spinning in the swirling lights. "So, how's your mom?"

He leaned in to hear her question. "She made it back okay."

"That's good." Her body tired to move to the beat, but everything seemed half-a-beat off tonight. "Did you finish that model?"

"Not yet. We worked on it a little last night, but it's still a long way from finished."

She nodded. Her voice was starting to hurt from screaming over the sound system.

"Dance?" he asked, standing at her side.

Had there been a way to say no, she would have, but ignoring every protest from her feet to her head, she stood and followed Brian to the dance floor. She tried not to sigh when he started moving in front of her, but one escaped anyway. Fighting to get her body to unwind, she moved, but nothing felt genuine. It felt like an act.

After an interminable amount of time, the beat switched to a softer version of the same pounding. Gently Brian took her into his arms as her toes screamed in pain. Even as they danced, the only thought that kept running through her brain was. "I want to go home!"

OoOO

"Are you okay?" Brian asked when they were back in his car long after one o'clock.

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know. You just seem… distant."

"I've got a headache," she said softly. "It's not a big deal."

"Oh."

They rode in silence as the streetlight illuminated the car and then plunged it into darkness.

"Have you thought anymore about Sunday?" she asked.

"We're doing brunch, right?"

"Yeah, 11:30."

The car laced its way through traffic and through a stoplight.

"You want me to pick you up?"

"If you don't mind," she said, sensing his trepidation.

He smiled and reaches across the seat for her hand. "I don't mind."

Coercing her brain into believing that, she leaned back into the seat and closed her eyes. Sometimes being with Brian was the easier thing in the world, and sometimes it felt akin to tightrope walking a volcano.

The car pulled up to the curb, and Brian killed the engine. "So, what about tomorrow night?"

"What about it?" she asked, never opening her eyes.

"I thought maybe we could check out that new Bruce Willis film over at the Cinestar."

She would rather have hot wax poured on her blister than go to a movie where a minimum of 200 people would get killed, but tonight she was just too tired to argue. "Sure."

OoOoO

"You must really be something special," Logan said, tossing an orange in the air and catching it Friday afternoon as they sat in the atrium.

"Why do you say that?" Rory asked, not altogether steadily.

"A dozen roses and a tie? Guys don't do that for just anybody."

She shrugged as she bit into a chip. "You do it everyday." Her glance caught the questioning look on his face. "Okay, not the roses part, but…"

"You think I do all this for you?" he asked, smoothing out his tie. "Nope, it's for Martha in classifieds."

"She's 80 years old."

"I like mature women."

"Mature… or dead?"

Logan shrugged. "Couldn't be any worse than I've been doing."

Rory laughed. "I know that feeling."

"I thought you and Brian were doing good."

"We are," she said a little too quickly, "I meant before."

"Oh." He ripped into the orange, took a bite, and then looked at her. "So, you ready for Sunday?"

She shrugged as though Sunday was just another day on the calendar. "I hope so."

"Brian's nervous," he said, feeling like a traitor for telling her that. "He's almost as bad as you were with his mom."

Rory checked him with a skeptical glance.

"I said almost."

"Mom'll be fine, she just wants me to be happy," Rory said with a sigh, "It's Luke he has to watch out for."

"Protective?"

"Oh, yeah. Especially after Jess and Dean."

A puzzled look crossed his face. "Jess and Dean?"

She shook her head off-handedly. "I got dumped in high school and he still hasn't gotten over it."

"Long memory. That's no good." He saw the questioning look on her face. "For Brian. That's not good for Brian."

She nodded.

"It sounds like he'd better watch his step."

A half smile played at her mouth. "I don't think Brian will have any trouble."

Logan looked at her softly. "Neither do I."

OoOoOo

"I must be insane," Brian said, Sunday morning as he fought with the tie in front of the bathroom mirror. "A tie two days in one week. What's this world coming to?"

"I feel for you, man," Logan said, lounging next to the wall in his oldest sweats. "But I guess you'd better get used to it."

"Thanks for _that_ comment."

"What'd I say?"

Still fighting with his tie, Brian stalked past Logan into his bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed to pull his shoes on. "How do you stand these things?"

Logan shrugged. "You get used to them, I guess."

"I'll never get used to a tie."

"So, why do you wear one if you hate it so much?"

Brian shook his head as though Logan was hopelessly naive. "Rory, man. She always dresses so nice, like she just stepped out of a magazine. I can't show up looking like Lurch."

"Well, she fell for you when you looked like Lurch, so why change now?"

"Because, my friend, that's what happens. You meet someone, you fall madly in love with them, and then change everything about yourself to make them happy."

"So what happens when they find out that's not really who you are?"

Brian stood from the bed. "That's called marriage."

OoOoOoO

"Are you nervous?" Rory asked, clutching her handbag as she sat in the front seat of Brian's car.

"No, you?"

"No. I just hope my mom let Sookie or Luke do the cooking. If not, I apologize in advance because we'll be having beefaroni and tator-tots

He looked at her and laughed. "What?"

"She can't cook, but she's been on a kick lately where she thinks she can." Her body wouldn't stay still. She knew moving would wrinkle she silk dress, but as much as she tried, she simply couldn't stop fidgeting. "And Michel, oh Lord. Let's just hope he's out for the weekend."

"They can't be that bad," Brian said.

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that."

When the car pulled up to the inn, Rory squeezed her ees closed and willed every bad thing that had ever happened to her away from her brain.

"Shall we?" Brian asked.

She looked at him, and for one moment, she was thankful that he was by her side. "Yeah."

They pushed out the doors, and he waited at the car's bumper for her to come around. Her hands were busy pulling and smoothing her dress, her hair, her skin.

"You look great," Brian whispered, and she smiled at him appreciatively.

Hand-in-hand they walked up to the door and before Rory could reach the handle, the door flew open and she was engulfed in a sea of hugs.

"Rory, my heart! It's so good to see you, I was worried that I wouldn't recognize you." Lorelai said, wrapping her daughter in a bear hug before holding a hand out to Brian. "And you must be Brian. It's nice you could come." She ushered them into the entrance and through the library. "Luke's in the kitchen helping Sookie if you want to go say hi."

"Luke's in the kitchen with Sookie?" Rory asked with trepidation.

"'Fraid so," Lorelai said, the smile never leaving her face. "There's been some yelling all morning but it's died down in the last twenty minutes or so. I figure either one killed the other or they finally decided to play nice. Oh, and Michel's back there too."

"Thanks for the warning."

Knowing they would have to face it sooner or later, Rory took Brian's hand and led him through the dining room to the kitchen.

"Now, if you'll season the meat, while you're cooking it, it really brings out the marinade…"

"Hi, Luke," Rory said, breaking into the cooking lesson.

"Rory!" Instantly Luke turned two gloved and weapon-loaded hands on her. "You're early."

"Couldn't stay away," she said, arching her chin as he hugged her. Then she backed away from him. "This is Brian."

"Brian, it's nice to meet you," Luke said, transferring the skewer to his other hand, offering and then taking his hand back to remove the glove. "It's nice you could join us," he said looking Brian up and down.

"It's nice of you to invite us," Brian said, shaking Luke's hand.

"Hi Michel, how are you?" Rory said turning to Michel.

"I thought you had forgotten me," Michel said.

"I could never forget about you," Rory said with a flashing smile.

"I think you've gotten prettier, who are you trying to impress anyway?" Michel said, giving her a once over.

Rory ducked her head as her ears went hot.

"And you must be Brian. I would say it's nice to meet you, but that would be a lie," Michel said turning to leave.

Rory put a hand on Brian's shoulder giving him a small smile.

"Rory, honey! How are you?" Sookie said, coming around the counter and pulling her into a hug.

"I'm great Sookie, it's been awhile since I've seen you," she said with a laugh when her face disappeared into the hug.

"I agree with Michel, you have gotten prettier," Sookie said, pulling back and surveying her outfit.

Sookie kept her arm wrapped around Rory. "It's nice to meet you, Brian."

"Nice to meet you, Sookie."

OoOoO

Rory was amazed. For the first time in their lives, her family was acting semi-normal. Not one weird joke. Not one baiting word. But she knew it couldn't last, this time, next time, at some point the mask would crack, and Brian would see her real family and friends. Not that she minded, she loved them all very much.

"So, what'd you kids do for Valentine's Day?" Lorelai asked as they sat around the table, everyone's very best table manners out on display.

"Mom," Rory said in warning.

"What?" she asked in annoyance.

"We went to Kaya," Rory said.

"Oh, what's that? Some tropical island?" Luke asked.

"No, it's a club in town. And Brian gave me roses," Rory offered.

"Oh, really?" Lorelai said, and then nudged Luke. "You hear that Luke, he gave her roses."

"I'm not deaf Lorelai."

"A dozen," Roy said, breaking into the argument she knew by heart. "Red roses in one of those long boxes like you see in the movies."

"It sound wonderful," Lorelai said, smiling at her.

"So, Brian what is it that you do for a living?" Luke asked.

"I'm…" Brian cleared his throat as he was suddenly thrust headlong into the conversation. "I'm a landscaper."

"A landscaper, huh?" Luke said, nodding appreciatively. "What do you landscape?"

"Well, right now I work for my uncle. He does a lot of commercial stuff. Mowing and maintenance mostly, but I'm really more interested in the design aspect."

"Yeah," Rory interjected. "You should see these models him and Logan do. They're unbelievable. And Logan, he's working on one you would just fall in love with, Mom. It's got this statue in the middle and a birdhouse in a whole area of flowers."

"Who's Logan?" Lorelai asked.

"He's Brian's roommate," Rory said off-handedly. "Brian's been teaching him about design."

"Yeah, and he learns quick too," Brian said. "I got home the other night, and he's almost finished that whole model on his own. It took me two classes to be able to get one right."

"You've been to school then?" Luke asked.

"Two years. Back in Denver."

"And you moved here?" Lorelai said skeptically.

"There's too much winter there for a landscaper. I thought I'd have a better chance at getting my design on the ground here."

"Sounds smart to me," Luke said. "And you're going to start designing for your uncle?"

"Well." Brian knifed into his steak. "I really want to start my own business – do a few things on the side, get my name out there."

"Your own business?" Luke asked, and then he pointed his fork at Brian. "Rory, hang onto this one. He's a keeper."

After lunch Lorelai insisted that Brian take a look at the inn grounds. "I've been wanting to redesign them for years."

"Lorelai, the boy's here about Rory, not about your yard."

"Well, I know, but I just want to get his opinion," Lorelai said to her husband, and then she looked at Brian. "If you don't mind."

"Course I don't mind."

They walked out back behind the inn that was cluttered with tools from the shop that sat in the far corner. Projects in various stages of repair and disrepair sat around the lawn.

Lorelai led the group around the yard. "I've always thought I'd put a bird-bath over here and I've always wanted some flowers, but the ones we've planted before always died before we got them home from the nursery."

"I'd be glad to bring my models sometime and let you look, " Brian said, one hand in his pocket an one firmly gripping Rory's.

"That would be great. I'd love to seem them."

OoOoOoO

When five o'clock finally rolled around, Rory insisted she had to get home. It took another 20 minutes of hugs and "please come backs" before they finally extricated themselves from the inn and escaped to the safety of his car. Rory exhaled as her nerves unwound around her feet.

"They're nice," Brian said as he started the car.

She rolled her head to the side to look at him. "You're just saying that because you have to."

"Okay, I'm just saying that because I have to." Then he smiled. "No, I'm serous. They're really nice."

She reached across the seat and rubbed his arm. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For today."

He smiled at her and then refocused on traffic. "Anything for you."

OoOoOo

"How much do you know about Rory's family?" Brian asked over the model the next night.

"Some, why?" Logan asked, concentrating on keeping his focus on the total balance of the model.

"I don't know. Her mom's pretty cool, and Luke seems like a great guy. But she never called him dad."

Logan continued focusing on the model and nodded.

"I didn't get to meet her dad, and it was almost like he was never even a part of the family."

"I don't know much about her dad," Logan said, looking up from the little shed he had placed in one corner. "Rory doesn't talk about him much."

"Runs in the family." Brian shrugged. "There was this one picture on the piano. Rory was ten or something, and it was definitely her, her mom, and her dad. But no one mentioned him – not once."

"Huh." Logan reached for the Exact-o knife, which Brian handed him. "But besides that they seem normal?"

"Comfortable suburbia," Brian said as though it was the worse place in the world.

"White picket fence?"

"With a shining daughter and a small town Connecticut inn." Brian laughed. "A nightmare come true."

OoOo

The Chris question hounded Logan more than he wanted to admit. Something about him just was not right. Rory had talked about her family so much, and yet he was all but invisible. The next afternoon as they sat under the canopy of trees, he started at the meeting the parents' day, and wound his way around to the question of her dad.

"So your dad didn't come to the inn to meet him then?" Logan asked as though it was a perfectly logical question.

Instantly Rory's face went hard as she gazed straight ahead. "Chris?"

"Brian just mentioned him," Logan said with a shrug. "I figured the whole family would want to be there to meet the new boyfriend."

"No," Rory said, staring at the half-eaten sandwich in her hands. "Chris didn't come."

He heard the tears in her voice, but it was too late to take the question back. His gaze slid down her face with concern. "Why not?"

"You know, I'm not very hungry today." With that, she stood and threw her sandwich into the trashcan never even glancing back at him.

Totally confused Logan jumped up and ran after her. "Rory, wait." He caught up with her at the elevators. "What did I say?" Gently he reached out and touched her arm. "What?"

When she looked at him, the tears glinted across her lashes. "Chris isn't…" Rory stopped and exhaled slowly. "He isn't around, he found himself a new family and doesn't need me anymore"

"He doesn't need you anymore?" he asked as his hand dropped from her arm.

"He and my mom got pregnant so young, he was never around. I always thought he would get his life together and we could be a happy family, the three of us. I believed him, all those years. But when he finally did get things figured out, it was with another family. Now it's like my mom and I don't even exist, he's got a new family. A real one. It's as if I'm a mistake that he just brushed aside."

"Rory, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

She smiled up at him, but he could see the shattered pieces of her heart scattered across the plain of her eyes. "I know you didn't it's not your fault. But he doesn't want me, he doesn't want to be my dad…"

"Come here." And then, right or wrong, he pulled her to him and held her as she cried.

_I know, I know, when are Rory and Logan going to get together? Don't worry I have it all planned out..._


	16. Chapter 16

_Thanks for your reviews, I really appreciate them! _

Logan could hear the breaking of her heart like the background beat of the song playing on the stereo. Piece-by-piece the model was coming together. His model. It was an accomplishment that far surpassed every other thing he'd ever done in his lifetime. This was permanent – something that he could look at and say, 'I did that.'

Carefully he removed the small tag that said 'red' from one set of flowers and placed it next to the shed before he leaned back to look at the whole thing. But even as he did, her tears burned in his eyes. He could still feel the curve of her shoulders as they shook next to his chest, and his heart hurt all over again. Fragments of pictures of the two of them sitting under the trees talking drifted through his mind. What had they talked about for four years? Him. Mostly, he now realized.

She was in pain – at the very bottom of who she was she was in pain, and he never once bothered to notice. He shook his head at his own arrogance as he set up the last three into the center of the backyard.

The door closed, and Logan looked up. "Where've you been?"

"The Dragonfly."

Jealously jumped into Logan's throat. "The Dragonfly?"

"Yeah, Lorelai called me about the inn's grounds." Brian walked into the kitchen and pulled a glass out of the cabinet.

"What about the inn's grounds?"

"She wants me to rework it," Brian said, leaning on the door frame and looking into his glass.

"And that's a problem?"

"No, that's great," Brian said, taking a drink.

"Doesn't sound great."

Brian shook his head slowly. "I just… it's just all moving really fast all of a sudden. What if I can't make it work out."

"What are you talking about?"

"The business. What if I can't do it?"

"Are you kidding me? You could do this stuff in your sleep."

"Yeah, but by myself?" Brian shook his head slowly. "I don't know."

"I can help," Logan said, offering before he thought the offer though.

Gratitude crossed Brian's face as his gaze caught the model on the table. "You've been working on it."

"Yeah. I think it's finished."

"Mind if I take a look?"

Logan shrugged, and Brian pushed away form the door frame and sat down.

"Nice balance," Brian said, examining the work. "It's symmetrical in an asymmetrical way."

"And that's good?"

"That's great. I hate straight symmetry."

Logan nodded, having no idea what Brian was talking about.

"When we go to the Dragonfly Saturday, would you mind if we bring it?" Brian asked, turning it slowly.

We? Dragonfly? Saturday? "Sounds good."

OoOoOo

"I can't believe you're going to work on my mom's inn," Rory said slightly panicked.

"Brian's good at this stuff, and it's not like we're going to tear the place down," Logan said, munching on his chicken salad sandwich. "He won't do anything they don't want."

"It's just too weird. I've never seen Mom and Sookie so excited about any guy that's walked through their living room – other than their husbands that is."

"So they like Brian?" Logan asked, hoping the breaking of his heart wasn't so obvious to her as it was to him.

"Yeah." Rory's gaze fell to her sandwich as she smiled softly. "They really do."

Logan watched her for one more moment, and then he forced his gaze to focus on the trees around them. "Well, I'm happy for you."

OoOoOo

"We're supposed to pick up Rory on the way," Brian said, grabbing his portfolio from beside the door. "You got that?"

"Yeah," Logan said, balancing the model in his hands carefully.

"Let's hit it."

They walked down to the car, placed the model in the trunk, and crawled in.

"I just love spring," Brian said, breathing in the warmth from the car's windshield. "Everything's so new and fresh."

"Thank you Hallmark."

"Can you blame me?"

"No," Logan said, and he really couldn't. Life in Brian's world looked amazing from where Logan was it. A business just starting. Full time work outside of the business. And the most beautiful girl in the world in love with him. How could he be anything but sappy?

They pulled up to Rory's apartment, and Logan let Brian go up and get her. He was determined not get in the way of their happiness. Deftly he crawled into the backseat and told his heart to stop getting excited. This was about them, he was just along for the ride.

However, the second they emerged onto the top step, his breath caught. Even in faded jeans, a t-shirt, and with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked incredible.

"Morning," Logan said from the backseat when she crawled in.

"Hello, you," she said, and he heard her happiness all the way to his core.

She's your friend. Today you're going to have to remember that.

OoOoO

"And you can get a birdbath like that?" Lorelai asked, sitting forward on the couch as she examined the model.

"Close enough," Brian answered from his chair. At his feet Rory smiled up at him as Logan watched from across the room fighting to keep the pain his heart from showing on his face.

"This is really beautiful," Lorelai said.

"It's all Logan," Brian said. "He did the whole design."

"Well, you're very talented," Lorelai said, smiling at Logan.

"Thank you." He could feel the tips of his ears burning.

"We could go out back and take a look at it," Brian said.

"That sounds good."

OoOoO

"You want some help?" Rory asked a few hours later as Logan sat on the grass, picking up the rocks that had invaded the lawn with each new project.

"Sure," he said with a smile.

She sat down and started throwing rocks in the little wagon.

"How's it going over there?" Logan asked nodding over to Brian and Lorelai who sat on the back steps sketching out a design.

"Good, I think. Mom's excited about have freesia and tulips to look at."

"It'll be nice." Logan threw two more rocks in the wagon and looked around the yard.

"She liked your design."

He shrugged. "I didn't know what I was doing."

"Well, it doesn't look like it. Brian was impressed too."

"It's one thing to glue pieces on a mat, but I wouldn't know where to start with actually doing it for real."

"Brian's not worried. He says it's simple yet elegant," she said, "Or something like that."

Logan knew that tone. It was the same on he'd used when he talked about Mandy. His mind slipped back to sitting across the desk from Rory all those months ago, talking about Mandy. Not once in all the time they were together had Rory told him to shut up and leave although now he really couldn't see why she hadn't. He would have. It was time to repay her, and even if it killed him, he was going to support her in anyway he could.

"Hey," Rory said, breaking into his thoughts. "Where'd you go?"

He smiled sadly. "Nowhere."

OoOo

"Let's take it down there a little ways," Rory said, pointing down the alley.

"Why can't we just dump it here?" Logan asked as he pulled the wagon out of the back gate.

"Because it's already too high here," she said, and then a grin spread across her face. "Besides, you look cute pulling that wagon."

"Gee, thanks."

She smiled as he stepped beside her, and they walked side-by-side down the alley.

"Just tell me where."

Her heart wished she could bridge the six inches between them and take his hand. It was crazy. Brian was working on her mother's yard, looking perfectly at home, and yet instead of being happy about that, she was out here in the alley fantasizing about Logan.

"You know," he said when they were almost to the end, "If we don't stop soon, we'll be in Hartford."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Here's fine."

Immediately he turned and tipped the wagon over, scattering the rocks across the alley. "Better?"

"Better," she said, forcing her heart not to think about the warmth of his brown eyes.

"So, how long has your mom owned this place?" Logan asked as they started back for the gate.

"Her and Sookie built it when I started Yale," she said falling into step with him effortlessly.

As they rounded the gate, Rory pulled Logan's arm to stop him while they watched Brian and Lorelai on the porch looking over the sketches.

"Looks like things are really moving along," Rory said as she strode over to them leaving Logan behind after a few moments.

"How's everything going?" Rory said happily.

"Great," Brian said, looking up, "we're just going over some drawings."

"Show me what you've got." Rory said.

"Brian has some great ideas, it's going to be beautiful," Lorelai said happily.

"That's wonderful, Mom," Rory said, smiling.

OoOoO

Rory sat alone in the inn's kitchen making a sandwich. She had spent the afternoon with her mom while Brian and Logan did some work outside and her mom wanted to know all about her and Brian. Lorelai was shocked to find out they hadn't slept together yet.

Lorelai had insisted that she didn't want their crazy promise to each other when Rory was young to stop her from making her own decisions. And the more Rory thought about it, the more she thought she may have been using that as an excuse to push him away.

As that ball began rolling, she thought about how much she liked him and didn't want to lose him. Sure, he says he's fine with waiting, but what if he didn't really mean it. How could she be that dumb?

Her mom's words were the exact same words Rory had been thinking since Brian had asked her out the first time. One way or another she was destined to lose him – the only question now was which way would win the final contest.

OoOoO

Brian took Rory's hand at the top step outside her apartment building. Logan was waiting in the car, lit only by the streetlights.

"I had fun today," Brian said, inching toward her, and her heart thudded in her stomach.

Logan could see them, she was sure of it, an even if he wasn't watching, the thought that he might be sent her searching for a safe hiding place. "I did too." She glanced back down the steps to the car, but it was dark. "It's going to be nice."

"Yeah, it is. Thanks for your help."

"No problem." A picture of Logan dumping rocks in the alley flitted through her mind and she batted it away, but it was instantly replaced with a picture of her and Lorelai's conversation this afternoon. She felt Brian leaning in before he actually did, and before she could stop herself, she backed away so that his lips met only the side of hers.

Confusion traced through his eyes as he backed away to look at her. There was a long pause as Rory fought the conflicting feelings running through her spirit.

"Umm, I thought about checking out the Conservatory tomorrow," Brian sad, tightening his grip on her hand. "You want to go?"

She nodded, fighting the tears that had sprung to her eyes.

"I'll pick you up… at one?"

Slowly she nodded again, wishing she could meet his eyes and calm the confusion she saw every time she looked into them.

"Okay. Well, I'll see you the?"

"Yeah," she said, and with one small swing, he let go of her hand and stepped away from her.

She watched him as he retraced his steps back to his car. At the car door, he turned and waved to her once. Sadly she waved back. Then she turned and escaped into the apartment, but once inside, she turned and watched his car come to life and pull away.

What was she doing? If she didn't get it together, she was going to lose the best thing that had ever happened to her. Brian Easton was everything she'd ever asked God for. He was sweet and charming. He had a good future in front of him, and most of all he loved her. But not one pro on one side of the list could equal the single con. He wasn't Logan.

OoOoOo

When they got to the apartment, Logan expected Brian to go right up the stairs, take a shower, and go to bed. Instead he walked over to the couch and flopped onto it.

Logan started up the steps.

"What do you think of Rory?" Brian asked when Logan was three steps up, and instantly he stopped and turned back to the living room.

"Rory?" he asked as the name echoed through his mind. Without noticing he was moving, eh came back into the living room. "She's nice. Why?"

Brian shrugged, and Logan sat down as concern jumped into his chest.

"No reason." Brian leaned back and closed his eyes. "She's great, you know? She makes me laugh, the way she puts her chin in her hand when she's thinking. And when she opens the door and says, 'Hello, you.'"

Her voice rang in Logan's head as he mouthed the words with Brian.

"So, what's the problem?" Logan asked, forcing the question out.

"I don't know. Maybe it's this whole not sleeping together thing." Brian shook his head. "I mean it feels like we're more like friends than like we're actually dating sometimes. I don't know. It's getting to the point that I'm not sure she even like me anymore."

Logan's heart jumped. "Have you asked her about it?"

"No. I mean, I respect her for waiting, but sometimes it makes me feel like she's not committed as I am. Wouldn't she want to if she was?"

"Maybe there's more to it."

"What else could there be?"

"Well, you have asked her why she doesn't want to?"

"No, not exactly. I just kind of figured after we went out for awhile, she'd change her mind."

"It sounds to me like you need to talk to her. Let her know what's going on with you." Logan yanked all the sanity he could find to him. "I'm sure she loves you."

"Really?" Brian asked, and the confusion in his eyes rang out in his voice.

"Yeah." Logan ducked his head sadly. "I'm sure she does."

OoOoO

"I was thinking," Rory said, swinging her hand in Brian's as they walked past the orchids in the Conservatory. "Saturday's my birthday, and I was thinking we should really celebrate."

Expectation leaped into Brian's eyes. "Oh, yeah? What did you have in mind?"

Rory considered her proposition for three more steps. She had seen the look in Brian's eyes when she left him last night, and it didn't take a psychic to see that she was in danger of losing him if she kept up her 'kissing only' rule.

Slowly she shrugged. "I don't know. I thought maybe we could go to Waverly for the night."

"Waverly?" Brian stopped short as utter shock slid across his face. "The hotel?"

"Yeah," she said, wishing she could meet his gaze. "We could go after work on Friday, and we wouldn't have to drive anywhere – like out of town or anything."

"Are you sure?" Brian asked totally floored.

"Yeah, I am." And the tears in her voice slipped into her eyes as she look at him. She had to be or she was going to lose him. Of that, she was perfectly sure.

OoOoOo

"We're going to the Waverly for her birthday this weekend," Brian said, sounding happier than he had in a month.

Instantly Logan's fork clattered back to his plate. "Waverly?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't that… Umm, don't you think that's pushing her a little bit?"

"She asked me," Brian said. "You were right, she does love me."

"Oh," Logan's heart fell with his gaze. "How nice for you."

Panic. It was the only word to describe the racing of Logan's heart. They were going away together – for the weekend, and when they came back, they would be on the fast track to marriage. He could feel it in his gut. Even now he could see her smiling at him as she stood next to Brian at their wedding, and then she would turned and pledge her undying love to his best friend.

Vehemently he shook his head to clear it of the awful picture. "When are you going?"

"Friday, right after work," Brian said, "I'm picking her up at the office."

OoOo

"So you and Brian must be really serious," Logan said the next afternoon under the trees. Even saying the words ripped his heart out, and it was all he could to not break down and beg her not to leave right then and there.

"Yeah," she said softly. "He's been really great about waiting, but I figured, you now, what are we waiting for anyway. We're both adults, and it's not like either of us is seeing anyone else, so…"

"Yeah, it makes complete sense."

"It was silly," Rory said, "I don't know what I was waiting for."

Me to wake up, Logan begged silently. "I think it's smart. It clouds thing too much at the beginning."

"Yeah, but it's been long enough now. Besides, Lorelai's right, making him wait isn't fair."

He stopped short. "Lorelai?"

"Oh, you know, she just said what I was already thinking. Besides, it's not fair to ask him to respect what I want if I don't respect what he wants."

He waited a long moment before he could get the words outs. "I guess coming from me this probably sounds stupid, but shouldn't being together make sense for both people?"

"Oh, but it does," she gushed, and then she stopped. "Most of the time anyway. I just… I've never been with anybody who really loved me… like he does. I don't want to lose that."

It was there again, the vulnerability in her eyes, and his heart tripped over it. "So you really love him then?"

"Yeah," she said, looking at him as the tears shone on her lashes. "I really do."

OoOoOo

"Hey," Logan said, Thursday morning as he swung into her cubicle the little package tucked in his breast pocket.

Tomorrow and forever would be hers to share with Brian. He had to find a way to respect that and move on, but today, for one more day they could be together, no Brian between them.

"I got you something," he said, sliding into the chair.

"Why?" she asked, looking up in puzzlement.

With only one second of hesitation, he pulled out the box and sat it in front of her. "Happy birthday."

She looked at the package and then up at him. "You didn't have to do this."

Her smile lit his heart. "Open it."

Slowly she fingered the small box, and then she turned it over and tore the paper away. He watched her face as love rushed through him unbridled.

The paper slid form the box, and her smile surrendered to confusion. Eternity.

"I figured, you know, you might need some for the weekend," he said as pain sliced through his heart.

"I… I don't know what to say," she said, looking from him to the box and back again.

"You don't have to say anything. It's just my way of saying thanks for everything you've done for me, and to say good luck… with Brian."

"Logan," she said, standing and walking around the desk.

He stood and met her at the side of the desk where he wrapped her into his arms.

"Thank you."

_Well it seems that things are certainly getting serious for Rory and Brian, if only Logan would tell her how he really feels, sigh. Review please:)_


	17. Chapter 17

The package arrived on Friday at three o'clock. Rory had spent most of the day fighting to stay away from Logan. After his present yesterday, which she was wearing, it just seemed like playing with fire to spend too much time with him today.

She was going with Brian, and she needed to focus on him. With on rip she opened the small card.

'Thinking about tonight. Love forever, Brian.'

Her smile went right to her heart. She was doing the right thing. Without hesitation she pulled the paper off the box and then stopped in confusion. Splendor? Carefully she opened the box and pulled it out. A small slip of paper drifted down onto her hap, and she picked it up. 'It always makes me think of you.'

Slowly her hand dropped to the floor as Eternity flooded her nose.

"Hey, Rory, Dawn need those reports," Elliot said from her door, and she looked up wondering where had had come from.

"Yeah, okay." Pushing the confused haze away from her, she dropped the box of Splendor into her purse, grabbed the reports, and forced her legs to stay under her long enough to get her to Dawn's office.

OoOo

"Hey, Ace, you got a…" Logan asked, swinging into her cubicle and stopping short when she wasn't in her chair. He looked back out and up and down the long row of cubicles, but there was no sign of her. With a shrug he stepped into her office.

He just needed a staple remover, surely it wouldn't be a crime to grab one. As he sat down in her chair, the scent of Eternity surrounded him, and his heart turned over. She was Brian's. He needed to move on. Quickly he opened her top drawer and picked through her pencil organizer.

"Oh, come on, I know you have one." His hand slipped between the desktop and the organizer to the back of the drawer, but there was only some paper. Not really thinking about it, he pulled the paper out and looked at it, and then his eyes narrowed.

'You are my friend.

The one I laugh with,'

In confusion, he carefully fitted the two pieces of the card back together.

'Cry with,

Love,'

Curiosity wouldn't let him put it back in the drawer. Holding it together, he opened it, and in one heartbeat, everything else dropped away.

'Logan,

Sometimes taking a risk with a friend is better than playing it safe with strangers, what do you think? You and me? Maybe? Sometime?

Merry Christmas

Love always,'

"Rory," he read aloud as he sat, stunned. Slowly he leaned back in the chair as conflicting thoughts crashed into each other. The two of them? Together? She wanted that? But how could he have missed that? He would've noticed? Surely, he would've…

"Yeah, I'm leaving at four," he heard her say next to her door, and quickly he replaced the card and shut the drawer.

"Well, have fun," someone said

"I will," Rory said, and then she turned into her cubicle just as he made it back to the door.

In one crash their bodies met.

"Oh!" she exclaimed

Instantly he reached out and caught her arms to keep her from falling. Like a lightening bolt through is soul he felt how perfectly they fit together, and with one look he knew he could never let her go again.

"I'm sorry," she said, dazed as she backed away. "I didn't see you there."

"Yeah." He felt every inch she put between them. Air on top of air crowded his lungs. "I was just… I'm… I'm sorry."

No sanity left and without another word, he stepped past her and fled.

His feet carried him into the restroom, where he reached into the cool water and splashed it onto his burning face. He squeezed his eyes closed to make all the pieces make sense, but the only thing that made any sense was that he loved her – more than he had ever loved anyone in his life. If he told her that now, he might lose her forever. If he didn't, he most surely would.

He stood there, staring at his reflection. She was his match, and if he let her go, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Debating the right words to say, he pushed away from the sink, pulled the door open, and walked back to his cubicle. Without stopping at hers, he walked to his desk and sat down. He had to think, to come up with something. Some way to tell her.

"Hey, Logan," she said, suddenly swinging into his doorway, and he looked up into her amazingly soft eyes. "Have a good weekend, kay?"

In a breath he was his feet and around the desk. "You leaving?"

"Yeah," she said with a tight smile. "Brian's supposed to be here at four. I thought I'd go meet him downstairs."

"Oh." It was the only word that made it across the screaming chasm in his brain.

"Well, I'll see you Monday." She stepped back out the doorway.

"Rory," He said, wishing his heart didn't already see her telling him to get lost because she was in love with Brian.

"What?"

"I… umm, you got a minute?"

She looked at her watch. "I should really get going."

"Please?"

"Okay, but only one." Slowly she stepped back into his cubicle. "What's up?"

The closer she got to him, the louder his pulse thundered in his ears. "I… just… umm,…" In desperation, he reached down and took her hand, but the confusion that jumped into her eyes with that gesture only added to the chaos in his brain. "I know I should've said something sooner… I just… umm, I thought you… I didn't know you felt the same way.

Her eyebrows knitted consternation. "Logan, what are you talking about?"

"Rory, I love you." They were the truest words he'd ever spoken in his life, and for the briefest of seconds, it felt like everything would be all right.

"You… what?" she asked, stumbling over the words.

"I love you," he said again, gaining confidence in the repetition. "I have for a long time, but I was just too dumb to realize it. Please, it was just a dumb plan. I mean I appreciate you helping me get Brian away from Mandy and everything, but…" At that moment, his gaze caught movement at the door, and he looked up into the most betrayed face he'd ever seen in his life. "Brian."

In a daze she turned. "Brian…"

With one hit Brian smashed the flowers he held against the wall, and petals cascaded down to the gray carpet as he turned and stomped away.

"Brian, wait." Rory's hand fell from Logan's as she ran for the door. "Brian!"

It was the worst moment of Logan's life, and he felt it to his core.

OoOo

Rory missed the elevator Brian slipped into, and with only the thought that she had to catch him, she pushed through the door to the stairs. She could see herself pitching headlong right down to the bottom, but she pushed that thought behind the hurt she had seen in Brian's eyes. She had to get to him, to explain. But even as she thought that, her brain asked, "How?"

And she had no answer for that question. She pushed through the door at the first floor and ran past the elevators to the front door. "Brian!"

He was already several yards down the sidewalk, and he never stopped. Her feet made any decision moot as they raced after him. "Brian! Please wait! Please!"

They were almost a block away when she finally caught up with him and made one, last desperate grab for his arm. "Wait!"

Suddenly she stood face-to-face with him, gasping for breath and having no idea where to go from there.

"How long has this been gong on?" he asked, betrayal and anger creating a dangerous mix in his eyes.

"It hasn't. I had nothing to do with that. That wasn't me," she pleaded.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, I do." Someone bumped into her and pushed her into him. "You've got to believe me, Brian. Logan and I are just friends."

They were the words she had fought tooth and nail to deny for almost five years, and now she was using them like a shield. "I swear to you. We're just friends."

"Well, that looked like a lot more than just being friends to me."

"I know. I'm sorry. But I didn't know… he never told me… I mean…"

The heat of anger in Brian's eyes turned ice cold. "And what plan was he talking about anyway?"

Those words stopped every protest in Rory's arsenal. "It wasn't… I didn't mean to hurt you. That was just at the beginning. It has nothing to do with now."

"So this was all a set-up?" His jaw set in anger.

"That was only then…" she pleaded. "But it's not now. Now, I really do…"

"Save it." He shook her hand off his arm. "Have fun at the Waverly."

And with that, he tuned and stalked down the street. Rory stood, her whole world swirling around her in chaos. Tears choked out the only air that managed to weed its way into her lungs. Seeing no other option, she turned back to the Courant building and exhaled. Logan had some definite explaining to do.

She didn't even look at the atrium as she boarded the elevator and crossed her arms. Pain, anger, and confusion mixed in the middle of her hest as she stopped off the elevator, trying not to notice the curious looks of her coworkers.

At Logan's door, her arms became stone at her chest as her face went hard. "Do you mind explaining to me what that was about?"

"Rory." Logan stood from his desk as he glanced behind her. "Where's Brian?"

"Gone… thanks to you."

He looked at her gently, but it did nothing to soften the hardness in her chest.

"Look, I'm really sorry," he added softly. "I should've said something sooner, but I thought… I didn't know… I wasn't sure how you felt."

"And now what? You're some kind of mind reader?"

"No, I found…," he started and then inexplicably stopped.

"Found what?" she asked angrily.

He shifted uncomfortably as his gaze dropped to the carpeting. "I… found the card in the back of your desk."

"What card?" she asked, and her words were like rocks hurled at him.

"The card… from Christmas."

His words faded out as realization came over her, and she eyes fell closed.

"You…? What were you doing in my desk?"

"I just needed a staple remover. I swear, that's all. I didn't do it on purpose."

"A staple remover?" She turned and pushed the hair out of her face in consternation. "I don't believe this."

Slowly he reached out to her. "I never meant…"

"Don't touch me." Her arm jerked away from him as her steel hard gaze clamped onto him again. "Do me a favor. Okay? Just stay away from me." Fury and hurt poured from her eyes as she looked at him. He had ruined everything. Everything with Brian. Everything with them. Everything. "I hate you, you know that?"

"Don't say that."

But she'd already turned for her own cubicle.

"Rory, wait."

He followed her into her cubicle where she pulled her purse off the floor with a jerk and then stood and faced him.

"You used me," she said, and venom coursed through the words. "You used me, and then when I had a chance to really have someone fall in love with me…" She shook her head, fighting the tears. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am," he pleaded. "Just let me explain."

"Explain what? That you love me? What a joke. If you really loved me, you would've let me be with Brian. No, that wasn't love. That was greed." Her gaze dropped from his as she crossed to the front of her desk for the door where he stood. At the door, she met his gaze once more. "You sure know how to ruin a good friendship, you know that?"

With a disgusted shake of her head, she stepped out into the hallway, leaving him and their friendship in the dust.

_Whew, finally! I figured I've tortured you guys enough. The guy's got poor timing, that's for sure. Sounds like both Rory and Logan have some explaining to do... And I know y'all have something to say, so let me hear it!_


	18. Chapter 18

_Thanks for your reviews! _

OoOoOo_  
_

The apartment was quiet when Logan stepped into it. His words to Rory rang in his ears as he now realized that he'd probably smashed not only her heart but Brian's as well. He hadn't meant to, this hadn't been part of the plan.

On his way up the stairs, however, he met Brian coming down, and Brian pushed by Logan without so much as a glance.

"Hey," Logan said, "What's going on?"

Wordlessly Brian walked over to the little table and picked up the park model. It was then that Logan realized the one on the entertainment center was no longer there.

"What are you doing?"

As though Logan was totally invisible, Brian climbed the stairs with the model in his hands.

"I'm sorry," Logan finally said. "Can't we talk about this?"

"About what?" Brian asked turning on him. "About the fact that you've been cheating with my girlfriend behind my back?"

Logan opened his mouth to reply, but Brian cut him off. "Or maybe about the fact that you used her to break up me and Mandy? What was that all about? Huh? What did I ever do to you?"

"Listen…"

"Save it." Brian's face went rigid. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am," Logan pleaded, but Brian wasn't listening, he was already walking up the stairs.

Logan exhaled in resignation. The only good thing he could see in the whole disaster was that Brian hadn't already moved out. However, Logan knew it would never be like it was before. One step at a time he climbed to the top, walking into his room, and fell onto his bed.

His whole body felt like it had just been squeezed in a giant vice grip. He closed his eyes, but her rock hard face jumped into his consciousness, and to escape from it, he opened his eyes and rolled over. The ceiling seemed to press down onto his chest, choking the air out of him. "What've I done?"

OoOoOo

With shaking hands, Rory unpacked her little suitcase. This was supposed to be the best weekend of her life. Why did Logan have to go and ruin it now? Why? Six weeks ago, three months ago, four years ago. She would've been able to handle it then, but now? Now, it was just heartless and cruel.

She picked up the white satin gown she had bought especially for this weekend, ran a sad hand over it, and sat down on the bed heavily. All her dreams. All her hopes. Smashed.

Defiantly she stood, dropped the gown into a drawer, and slammed it shut. How was it that no matter what, she was doomed to be the one in pain? The one scrambling to hold on to everyone else.

Trying not to, she saw her and Chris at the Independence Inn the day of Sookie's wedding.

"What exactly are your intentions?" Rory had asked him after talking to her mom, wishing that conversation wasn't locked in her head forever.

"Excuse me?" Chris asked confused.

"Your intentions – are they honorable?"

"Completely honorable."

"Yeah? Because we have been waiting for this for a really long time and we take disappointment extremely hard. I mean it, property damages is often involved," Rory said in one long breath. She was so happy they would finally be a family.

"Well, I better follow through on this, huh?" Chris responded cheekily.

"I think it's an excellent idea."

With a swipe at her face, she brushed the memory and the ache in her stomach away, but it and the memory weren't going anywhere. As she picked up the empty suitcase to throw it into her closet, a picture of Lorelai sitting forlornly on her bed slid through Rory's mind, and her chest wrapped around it.

"What's wrong?" Rory asked, even now shaken by the distress in her mother's eyes.

"Nothing," Lorelai said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, nothing." Rory sat down on her bed. "What's wrong?"

"Chris and I broke up."

"Broke up? Why?" Rory asked, slightly distressed.

Lorelai's gaze traveled out the window as Rory struggled to make sense of it.

"Sherry's pregnant."

It had been the beginning of the end.

In the present, Rory stood from the bed. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to remember. She wanted to leave, to get away from everything and everyone. With no other thought she walked right through her apartment grabbed her purse and left.

OoOoOo

The silence was growing until everything solid seemed to be swallowed by it. Finally, Logan could take it no longer. He walked down the hall and knocked on Brian's door. No answer.

"Brian, I think we need to talk."

"Go away."

"I just want to talk."

"You've said enough already."

Logan turned the knob and pushed the door open. "I don't think I've said nearly enough." He walked into the darkened room, lit only by the eerie glow of the computer screen. Knowing he was pushing his luck but seeing no other way to make things right, he sat down on the bed. "Okay, I'll talk, you listen, and if you still hate me, well, then there's not much I can do about it."

Brian continued to move trees and bushes around the screen with his mouse wordlessly.

"First of all, I didn't do any of this to hurt you," Logan said slowly. "The whole thing with Mandy was a mistake. I should've been honest with you, but I didn't think you would listen."

Logan took a deep breath. Brian was going to listen anyhow.

"Mandy was my old roommate," Logan said softly.

The mouse slowed.

"We were engaged."

The mouse stopped completely. "Engaged? You were engaged to Mandy?"

"I thought I was in love with her. We lived together for almost six months, but mostly she was the one doing the living, and I was the one taking care of everything else. I don't think she was ever as committed to us as I was. I gave, she took. That was about the extent of it – until she walked out. I thought my world had ended, and I acted like it. I'd go and whine to Rory everyday about how I couldn't go on and how I'd given up on the whole idea of dating."

"Rory?"

"Yeah, we'd been friends for a long time – even before Mandy, but that's all I thought she was… someone to go and talk to. Someone who would listen and make things better. I never really saw her as any more than that."

Logan shook his head at the idea that he could have been so utterly and completely blind. "When I found out you were going out with Mandy, Rory tried to keep me company and keep my focus off the two of you. She came over here when you two were gone, and I went over there when you two were here."

"Chinese food girl," Brian said slowly.

Logan nodded. "Only it wasn't like you thought – we really were just friends. She was helping me out – until…" The breath escaped Logan's lungs as the kitchen scene with Mandy flooded his mind. "The night you brought Mandy over… I was trying not to get in the way of you two, but she started coming on to me…"

Brian snorted contemptuously. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious. She was telling me that we could get together and how convenient it would be. I knew you wouldn't believe me, so Rory and I came up with a plan, but it wasn't supposed to go this far."

"I wasn't supposed to fall in love with her," Brian clarified.

Slowly Logan nodded. "And she wasn't supposed to fall for you, but at the time I really didn't think long term. I just knew I had to break you and Mandy up."

"So you used Rory."

That hurt, but it was the truth. "Yeah, but then the more I was around her, I kept feeling like she wasn't really with me anymore. I guess that's when I realized I was in love with her."

"Well, you sure picked a fine time to figure this out."

"I didn't pick it. I was going to keep my mouth shut because I didn't think she felt the same way, and I didn't want to mess anything up between the two of you."

Brian snorted again. "That worked."

"But then at work today, I found this card that she'd written at Christmas – right before the plan I guess. Anyway, it pretty much said that she was interested in me, and I guess I realized if I didn't do something, I was going to lose her…"

"To me."

Again Logan nodded. "I never meant for any of this to happen."

Brian sat in silence considering. Without a word, Logan sat. He had said what he had come to say, the next step was up to Brian.

"So, what now?" Brian finally asked.

"I don't know," Logan said, rubbing his hands together, and hating the fact that he had to say the next words. "I think that's up to you and Rory."

OoOoOoO

Rory had sat in the swings at Bushnell Park until almost midnight Friday night, remembering how Brian's arms felt around her and how special she felt under his gaze. If only things had been different. If only she had been honest with him from the start. If only her heart hadn't fallen so far or so hard, she could've withstood the blow of losing him now.

It was only when the chill seeped its way past her coat and into her core that she had gotten up and gone home. How would she ever face either of them again? By now she should have learned to deal with the humiliation but it never got any easier. Every heartbreak, every disgrace, every time she was shoved down, it cut right through her.

Under her covers Saturday morning, she lay shivering despite their warmth. "Happy birthday to me."

OoOoOO

"I think you should call her," Logan said Sunday morning as he and Brian sat at the table over cold Cheerios.

"How can you sit there and say that?"

Logan shrugged. "What choice do I have? The two of you are together. Whatever you decide, I'll have to find a way to deal with it."

Her phone rang at one-thirty in the afternoon, and Rory stretched from the bed to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hi," Brian aid.

She sat up straight and sniffed. "Hi."

The line between them went silent as she fought to find the words to say to him.

"I think we need to talk," he finally said.

"Yeah, I think so too."

OoOoO

They walked through the Azalea Garden, the pebbles of the path crunching at their feet providing the only sound except the wind in the trees. Rory wanted to reach out and take his hand. He looked so shattered and so sad. But she kept her hands at her sides for fear of what he might do if she ventured out onto that limb.

"I talked to Logan," Brian said when they had walked so long they could no longer see the entrance to the trails.

Her gaze swung to his profile. "Oh?"

"He told me about the plan."

Unconsciously her gaze fell to the rock path, and she dug her hands deeper into her pockets as the guilt washed over her. "I'm sorry about that."

Brian glanced at her, and she felt his gaze melt through her skin.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, and his voice was hollow.

Slowly she shrugged and shook her head. "I didn't know how. I never thought you'd fall for me, and then when you did I guess I didn't want to do anything to mess that up."

"Why wouldn't I fall for you?"

"I don't know. We're just so different, you know? You go out, and you take life by the throat. Me, I'd rather hang back and hope that life doesn't notice I'm there."

His gaze dropped to the ground. "You still could've told me."

"I didn't want to lose you," she said softly. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

He looked at her, and the glance yanked all the sadness back to her eyes.

"And Logan?" he asked softly.

The name lodged in the middle of her chest. "Logan and I are just friends."

Brian shook his head and laughed softly. "I think you're kidding yourself about that."

"No, I'm not," she insisted, pleading with him not to throw them away over this. "He was never interested in me – not in that way anyway. We were just friends."

He kicked a rock down the path. "Yeah, well, sometimes friends make the best matches."

But she shook her head sadly. "Even if we could've made it work before, it's too late now."

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

Brian's steps slowed on the trail, and the he turned to her, took her hands in his and led her over to the little bench on the trail's edge. She sat down, gazing at him, fearful of what was coming next.

With a sad smile, he looked at her as he laid his arm across the back of the bench although it never touched her. "I don't think you're in love with me."

Her heart turned over with the words. "Yes, I am."

"No," he said dejectedly. "I think you're in love with the idea of me. You're in love with the idea of being in love, with the idea of us, but it's not real."

Frantically she turned to him. "Yes, it is. It's real."

"No," he said, breaking through her protest as he looked down. After an agonizing moment he looked back up at her and smiled softly. "I haven't been totally honest with you either. I've known for awhile that our differences were keeping us apart, but I tried to tell myself that it was the whole sleeping together thing."

"But I…"

"But that was just an excuse," he continued without stopping to hear her protest. "It was an excuse so I didn't have to be honest with you, and with myself If we weren't working as a couple when we weren't sleeping together, sleeping together wasn't going to change that."

"I'm sorry," she said, pleadingly. "I should never have…"

"No, sleeping together would've been a mistake. I see that now. You taught me that." He shrugged as his thumb traced its way across the edge of her shoulder. "Maybe that's why we got together in the first place. Because I needed to learn that."

"But if we would've…"

"We would've been that much more miserable now."

Her gaze locked on his. "But we were so good together."

Slowly he smiled. "Yeah, well, sometimes good is standing in the way of great."

She looked at hands as the pain washed over her. "Logan."

"He told me today that whatever we decided he would go along with it. He wants you to be happy – no mater what that means for him."

Defiantly Rory shook her head. "Logan only wants what's best for him."

"No," Brian said softly. "He loves you Rory. He as ever since I met him."

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"I just didn't realize you and his girlfriend were the same person until yesterday." Brian sniffed quietly and ran his other thumb down the side of his nose. "Give him a chance. Okay? A friend deserves that much."

The tears came to her eyes then as she leaned into Brian. "I'm so sorry about everything." He pulled her to him and held her as she cried.

"I know."

OoOoOoO

When he heard the door close down stairs, Logan never moved from his bed. One, small piece of him said he should go down and find out what happened, but the bigger piece sitting on his chest like a gorilla said that would be akin to suicide.

On top of losing the love of his life, his rash admission had cost him the two best friends he'd had. All that remained was confirmation of that fact.

Ever-so-quietly he heard the knock in his door, but he set his jaw, praying that Brian would just go away.

"Logan?" Slowly the door swung open. "Hey, you here?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, wishing that he wasn't.

Brian pushed into the room. "You got a minute?"

Logan shrugged as though he really didn't have a choice.

Smoothly Brian grabbed the chair and straddled it. "I thought you should know Rory and I broke up."

Even though it was that he had been hoping for all day, the air in Logan's lungs escaped with the news. "I hate to hear that."

"Yeah," Brian said softly. "So do I. But I wanted to tell you that it wasn't because of you."

Logan's gaze snapped up to Brian's battle scarred face.

"Not totally anyway," Brian said, summoning a smile to his face. "We were just too different. We both knew it, but we were afraid to say it out loud We were afraid to hurt each other."

"So, it's over then?"

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?" Logan asked, feeling more like a friend instead of the instigator of the mess.

"No." Brian sniffed once. "But I will be."

_I borrowed some lines from the season 2 finale, 'I Can't Get Started.' Now that everything's out in the open, it just depends on what Rory and Logan decide. Please review!_


	19. Chapter 19

_Thanks for your reviews, I love hearing what you guys think! _

When Rory stepped off the elevators the next morning, her feet were alternating between having wings and having anchors on them. Willing her legs to stay under her, she walked passed the identical cubicles to her own, where she slipped in, praying she wouldn't meet him coming out of his.

However, she stopped instantly when she saw the round object laying dead center on her desk. With trepidation, she stepped over to her desk, laid her purse on the floor, and sat down before reaching for the object. A Frisbee.

Her breath caught as she lifted the paper off the top and scanned the words.

'We need to talk. L.'

Yes, they did, but she didn't want to. Slowly she sat back and listened over the wall. He was there, she could hear his every movement. Logan. The man she had dreamed about, the man she wanted to be with more than life itself, the man she loved.

Despite every bad thing that had happened over the weekend, she did love him. True, she was still unbelievably angry with him, and more than unbelievably confused, but the one thing she was not confused about at all was that she loved him - all the way to the bottom of her soul.

Now she just had to decide if she could ever take another chance. Could she believe and hope again that someone could love her? And for that question, there was no easy answer.

OoOoO

"Hey," Logan said, swinging into her cubicle five minutes before noon.

Her highlighter streaked across the page as every nerve in her body jumped to attention, but she forced her gaze to say steady as she looked up at him. "Hello, you."

"So, what do you say? You want to go to the park?"

"Oh, okay, sure." Her head spun as she shut down the program on her computer and stood before reaching down to pick up the Frisbee. "Should I bring this?"

"Your choice."

It was a safety precaution. Something to do if talking proved too dangerous. They walked to the elevators with no words, and once on, Rory's gaze could find no safe place to lie. Being with Logan had never been so hard. Even when he was telling her about Mandy, it was only her who had felt the tension.

Now, he too looked like he would rather fly to Alaska than be standing here by her side. The elevator doors slid open, and they walked through the atrium to the parking garage. Without ever touching her, he guided her to his car and opened the door. The silence between them was stifling as he started the car and pulled out into traffic.

In only minutes they were at the park, and Rory knew they had arrived at the point of truth. She had simultaneously dreamed about and run from this conversation for almost five years, and now inexplicably she was here.

"How about over here?" Logan said, pointing to a small spot under a giant shade tree.

Nervously Rory folded herself onto the grass and watched him follow her. From the bag he carried, he handed her a sandwich and then a bottle of water.

"Thanks," she choked out as she tore into the sandwich. She had taken three bites before she realized he hadn't so much as opened his. Self-consciously she took a drink of water and then glanced at him.

"So, do you hate me?" he finally asked softly.

"No," she admitted, wishing that she did. Hate, at the moment, seemed much less frightening than what she was really feeling.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did. I mean I know how much you liked Brian."

"Yeah, well, sometimes that's not enough to build forever on."

Logan nodded slowly. "So what should you build forever on?'"

Her heart took a trip to the hazy blue sky above them even as she fought not to let herself hope. "Well, I think friendship might be a good place to start."

"I'm starting to see that," he said, never looking at her. "So, then I guess the question becomes have I lost my best friend over this?"

"I thought I was just the person who happened to be next door at work."

He smiled sadly. "So did I, but I think we were both wrong."

She took a drink and set the bottle next to her carefully as her gaze traveled caross the park. "So, what happens now?"

"Well, I guess we can play a little Frisbee," he said, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth, "and then we can see what happens next."

A small laugh escaped form the middle of her. "That sounds like fun."

Quickly he stood and reached down for her hand. His hand felt softer than it ever had before. She could feel the safety it provided, the undeniable assurance that as long as she needed it, it would be there.

Once she was on her feet, his hand lingered for one more moment before he bent and retrieved the Frisbee from beside her water. "You go first."

She accepted the toy, still not trusting herself to really look at him, and she took a few steps away from the tree. "Ready?"

He held his hands out in reply. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the saucer across the grass to him. Expertly he caught it and sent it immediately back to her. It took her only two steps to catch it. The warmth of the March air filled her lungs as she flew the Frisbee back to him.

One catch, and it was soaring back to her. However, it sailed just over her head.

"Sorry," he called, and the sound of his voices set rockets of in her heart.

"Sure you are." She bent, retrieved the Frisbee, and sailed it back to him, but her aim wasn't quite as true, and he had to chase it several steps. The sight of him running for a toy dressed like he should be running for a meeting brought a smile of her face.

She liked the way he looked, and it really didn't matter what he was wearing. The Frisbee hit her hands with precision, and in a heartbeat it was soaring back to him. Somehow just standing here in the sunlit park throwing a Frisbee of all things, she felt more alive than she had in awhile. It was amazing.

He sent the Frisbee back to her and then checked his watch. "We really ought to be thinking about getting back."

"Five more minutes," she called, knowing that five more forever's wouldn't be enough.

"Okay, but if Elliot yells at me, I'm sending him over to talk to you."

"Send him over," she said flinging the toy back to him with an abandon she had never felt in her life.

"So which one was better?" Logan asked when they were back in the car. He liked the way she laid her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes. It was an image he could get used to.

"Which what?" she asked dreamily.

"The $395 date or the five dollar one?"

"Hmm." She smiled. "Now that's a trick question."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. If I say the five dollar one, I might never get a $395 one again."

His heart soared at the thought that she might want to share either one with him. "Okay, then, don't tell me. I'll just do a little more research and figure it out on my own."

The smile in the depths of her eyes sparked the center of his soul as he glanced at her, still laying against the headrest but looking at him fully.

"Let the research begin."

OoOO

By Friday afternoon, Rory had decided that Logan's declaration had been a case of temporary insanity and nothing more. They had eaten lunch together every afternoon and shared breakfast three mornings, but nothing seemed appreciably different until he walked into her office at four o'clock on Friday afternoon.

"So, you got plans tonight?" he asked, slipping into the chair casually.

"No, you?"

"That depends."

She looked up from her work. "On what?"

"On you."

An involuntary smile spread to her face. "What were you thinking?"

He shrugged. "Say yes, and you'll find out."

Her heart swelled. "Yes."

OoOoO

The entire bathroom smelled like Eternity as she put the final touches on her makeup. Somehow, even though they had spent more hours together than anyone cared to count in the last year, this night seemed to matter more than all the others. He wasn't coming as her friend, he was coming as someone who wanted to be more.

The intercom buzzed, and she raced through the living room. "Come on up."

She looked around her apartment, willing her nerves to stay in her skin. When his knock sounded on her door, all the willing in the world was useless. On unsteady legs, she walked to the door, took one breath, and turned the knob. He stood on her threshold shifting from foot-to-foot, a multi-colored bouquet in hand.

"Hi," Logan said, but it came out more as a whisper, and he cleared his throat. "Hi."

"Hello, you," The butterflies danced the center of her stomach. "Umm, come on in."

He ducked once his feet carried him into the room. "Uh, these are for you."

He smiled as a feeling of flawlessness swept over her. "Thank you." Carefully she took them from him and turned for the kitchen. "Have a seat." Her legs felt like rubber underneath her, and she fought with her brain to stay rational.

As she reached into the cabinet, movement at the door caught her attention, and she glanced over. He was standing there, pressed white shirt under a coal black jacket. He would've looked like he was headed for a business meeting except there was not tie at his neck, and the top button of his shirt was open creating a small v of skin at his neck.

"I figured the others would be wilted by now," he said.

"The others?" she asked struggling to keep her mind on filling the glass and away for how he looked.

"From your ankle."

"Oh, yeah. I threw them out months ago." She wasn't gong to tell him about the two she had pressed in the book next to her bed.

He nodded. "That's what I thought."

Her hands quaked as she set the flowers into the water, fluffed them once, and then picked up the bouquet to put it on her television. As she crossed in front of him, the heat from the one brush with his body sent her mind spiraling in a thousand directions. She set the flowers on the television and then turned, uncertain of where to put her gaze.

"So, you ready?" he finally asked.

"Umm, yeah. I think so."

A smile crossed his lips although he never met her gaze. "Shall we?"

Uncertainly he held out his hand to her and with her heart racing in front of it, her hand lifted and met his. It was truly amazing how safe and easy that action felt. They walked out the door and to his car, simply enjoying how it felt to be together.

He opened her door and took her hand again as she folded herself into the front seat. Then she watched as he ran around, opened his own door, and slipped in beside her.

"You hungry?"

"I'm a Gilmore." She said although no amount of food would calm the butterflies.

"Good." He smiled with a sigh of relief as she started the car and pulled into traffic. Then as though he had been doing it for a million years, his hand slid from the steering wheel to rest lightly on hers. The air that flowed into her lugs was sweeter than any breath she had taken in 25 years. Without a doubt this was the moment she had lived all the other to get to.

OoOoOo

"Okay, strange question," Logan said, leaning across the table to get closer to her.

"What's that?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"My favorite color?" she asked curiously. "Why?"

Casually he shrugged. "In case I want to get you something, and they say, 'What color would you like that in?'"

She thought for a long moment. "Umm, emerald green I guess."

He laughed softly as his gaze dropped to the table. "That figures."

"Why does that figure?" Her eyebrows knotted as she watched him. "What? You don't like green?"

"Oh, no, I'm sure green is fine. I just can't see it."

"Huh?"

Slowly he shifted in the chair as he glanced at her. "I'm color blind."

"You are not."

"I am too. Green's the worst, but read and blue give me trouble too."

"You're lying."

"I am not."

"But you always look so… I mean, how do you make anything look right together? How can you tell?"

His head ducked closer to the table. "Promise not to tell?"

She nodded.

"I tell my tailor what I want and she buys most of my clothes for me, and then she sews these little letters in them so I know what to wear with what."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not. See." Carefully he pulled the edge of his jacket sleeve up, and there tacked in the inside cuff was a tiny, white B. "B, for black."

"But you said you had trouble with green."

"I do. I can't tell if something is green or gray or black or navy, so just in case it think this jacket is green, she labels it so I know it's black."

"And how long has she done this?"

"The maid started doing it for me in kindergarten when I colored the top of a tree brown and the bottom green. The teacher thought I was being a smart aleck until they figured out I wasn't doing it to be difficult – I just couldn't tell the difference."

Rory shook her head. "But how do you do anything? How do you drive?"

He shrugged. "Red is on top or left. Green is on bottom or right."

Suddenly riding him with him in a car seemed imminently more dangerous. "But the models?"

"I know what a tree looks like now, and I can see shades of grays, so I just put all the similar shades together. Brian never even questioned it."

She shook her head and smiled at him incredulously.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering how many more secrets you've got running around in that head of yours."

"Enough to keep you busy for awhile."

"Sounds like a challenge."

"Could be." He looked over at her plate. "You finished?"

"Uh, yeah."

"You want dessert?"

"Of course," she said with a smile.

After ordering chocolate cake with an extra scoop of ice cream the waitress cleared the plates.

"How did you let me eat that much, I'm stuffed," Rory said groaning.

"I wasn't the one who asked for the extra side of ice cream," he replied smiling.

"So, what do you say we get out of here?"

"Sounds good."

He took her hand and helped out of the booth, but once she was out, he didn't let go. They paid and walked slowly out to the car. The warmer temperatures of March had overtaken Hartford so that Rory couldn't tell if the warmth of her skin was from the night or from Logan being so close.

"I thought we could check out The Chameleon Club," he said when they were safely within the confines of the car.

"The Chameleon Club?" she asked uncertainly.

"Unless you want to go somewhere else."

"Oh, no that's fine." She wrapped her concern in her unwaving commitment to making this work. "Sounds like fun."

The club was loud. Extremely loud, and within ten minutes Rory couldn't tell if the pounding was the speakers or her brain.

"Nice place," Logan yelled, leaning in to her, and she nodded. "You want to dance?"

Again she nodded although what she really wanted to do was go home. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. Her body felt like it was saran-wrapped in the sound – it was like a straightjacket, hemming her in on every side. She moved, hoping her body would translate the sound into something that didn't look hopelessly abnormal.

They had been dancing several minutes before she dared a glance at him. With the strobe light flashing across the profile of his face, he looked unbelievably handsome, like some movie star who had just stepped off the screen. It was then that she remembered the tiny B stitched into his sleeve, and she smiled.

Every other girl in the place would look at him and think he was absolute perfection, she looked at him and saw a real man with real flaws and the worst timing in the world, but one who also had the biggest heart in the world and made the most wonderful shrimp spaghetti ever.

The beat faded into a slow song, and he moved closer and folded her into his arms. Gently he took her right hand and placed it over his heart, laying his palm across the back of her hand. His breath was hot against her neck as she closed her eyes and forgot about the crowd and the noise and everything else in the entire world that wasn't him holding her.

His hand at her waist fanned out, and she felt the strength in it pressing through her to the core. It was anything but frightening. In his embrace for the first time in her entire life, she knew she was perfectly safe. There was no question anywhere in her being that being here, wrapped in his arms, was where she was meant to spend the rest of her life.

OoOoOO

"Well, I guess this is good night," Logan said softly as Rory leaned against her door, his arm pressing against the door over her head as though that was where it was meant to be.

"Yeah," she said, feeling his lips on hers even before his body tilted toward her.

Like a breath, his lips brushed hers and then moved away as her entire body screamed for him to return. When he didn't, she opened her eyes and found him gazing at her.

"Thanks for tonight," he said with a hazy smile.

She nodded, knowing her voice wouldn't make it past the pulsing of her heart.

"Are you coming tomorrow?" he asked.

"Where?" she asked, knowing wherever it was, she would be there.

"Your mom's. Brian and I are going to be working over there."

Her smiled spread to her eyes. "I wouldn't miss it."

_Finally what y'all have been waiting for. Go ahead, tell me what you think!_


	20. Chapter 20

The pickup sitting at the curb when she pulled up to The Dragonfly had a tree illustration with the words "Jack's Nursery" scrawled on the side and a trailer with some kind of machine hooked to the back. Quickly Rory grabbed her purse and climbed out of the car just as Brian and Logan walked out of the house. The sight of the two of them, arms and muscles rippling across the expanse of thin, white t-shirts scattered every piece of sanity she had managed to regain since Logan had left her then night before.

"Hey, Rory," Brian said as Rory's gaze locked with Logan's.

"Hey," she said, wishing they were anywhere but in the inns' front yard.

"We're going to bring the truck around back, you want to hop in?" Brian asked.

"Okay." Sanity slipped away from her as Logan opened the passenger door, and she crawled in between them. Brian started the motor.

"So, what's the plan today? Logan asked as his hand rubbed up and down his leg.

"Well, we're going to run the rototiller across the back, and then we'll have to set up the dividers, then I guess we'll make a run to the nursery for the bushes and stuff."

Logan nodded as the pickup rolled into the alley. So far, Rory had managed not to touch either of them, but when the pickup swung to the side as it dropped across a hole, she lost her balance and crashed right into Logan.

"Pothole," Brian said.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed that," Logan said with a nervous laugh as Rory fought to get herself upright again.

The truck stopped behind the back gate, and the three occupants got out.

"You really think you're going to get this thing off of here without destroying it?" Logan asked, looking at the machine skeptically.

"Piece of cake," Brian said, unlocking the back gate and pulling two thin ramps off the back of the trailer.

Rory stood with Logan right behind her watching as Brian expertly climbed onto the machine and hit the starter. It roared to life on the first turn. He looked down the two ramps and put it into reverse. Slowly the machine backed off the trailer, and then she felt Logan move.

He went over and opened the gate so Brian could drive into the yard.

"Come on," Logan said, following Brian in, "you can help me move the furniture."

Rory pushed away form the invisible wall she felt attached to. A whole day of watching the two of them work might just mean that they could commit her into a padded cell by nightfall.

OoOoOo

All the furniture sat on the porch, and the back corner of the lot was now freshly tilled soil.

"Can you help me with this?" Brian called to Logan as he picked up a divider.

"Sure," Logan said, hopping over the flowerpots he and Rory were filling with topsoil.

"Let's start at the side of the slope and work our way around," Brian directed, and Logan positioned the metal divider, set it down, stepped back, and cross his arms, examining their progress.

"We'll have to wrap this first one around to make room for the walk," Brian said.

"So, how do you know where you're supposed to put this thing anyway?"

"Paint," Brain said as though it was his secret weapon. He pulled the small marker out, consulted his sketches, and in one fluid motion marked the edge of the grass with one flowing line. "What do you think?"

"Looks good, but I'm not going to have to live with it," Logan said skeptically.

"I'll get Mom," Rory said, standing from the flowerpots.

As he watched her disappear into the inn, Logan's hand remembered the feel of her back, and he had force his blood to stop pounding.

"Oh, it looks great," Lorelai said, stepping out onto the back porch.

"If you think this looks great, wait 'til you see it with actual plants," Brian said with a laugh. "Umm, we wanted to make sure this is where you wanted the dividers."

Rory stepped up next to her mothers' side and stuck her hand in both back pockets.

"And now tell me again what you're planning on putting in here?" Lorelai asked, swinging into the midday sun.

"Rose of Sharon buses in the back, here, and here," Brian said, pointing out the plan as Logan's gaze chanced back to Rory.

One look into her eyes was all it took to make his head spin. He smiled at her as Brian and her mother continued mapping out the garden. Her gaze dropped to the grass demurely and then met his again as the edges of her white skin turned pink.

"Okay, we'll get on this," Brian said, walking aback between them.

Logan's gaze dropped for one moment, and then he looked back up at her with a small smile.

"I think Rory's almost finished with the flowerpots," Brian said appreciatively.

"Oh, yeah," she said, ripping her gaze from Logan's reluctantly. "They should be ready before we go get the bushes."

"Good." Lorelai nodded, "Then I'll just let you get back to work then, to much dirt for me."

The three of them nodded, and Lorelai turned back for the door.

"Well, let's hit it," Brian said, clapping his hands together. "We're wasting daylight."

OoOoO

Wishing his heart didn't threaten to beat out of his chest every time he looked at her, Logan accepted another flat of flowers from Rory as he stood in the back of the pickup.

"Hey, Brian, how many of these things do we need?"

"Two or three should do it," Brian said, carrying an armload of tiny bushes to the pickup. "We'll go back in a month or so and seed the other stuff she wants."

Logan nodded as he accepted the bushes and tucked them into the only remaining space that wasn't some shade of green.

"That's it," Brian said, inspecting their selections carefully.

Smoothly Logan slapped his gloves together, laid a hand on the pickup side, and jumped to the ground, landing closer to Rory than he had planned. With a laugh, she laid her hand on his back and then immediately withdrew it. He looked her and smiled.

"Well, come on," Brian said when he had slammed the tailgate closed and started for the driver door. "We don't have time to be standing around all day."

Logan followed Rory to the pickup and crawled in beside her, amazed that she could put to much space between herself and him in the tiny confines of the cab. But when they rolled into the alley again, his wish for the pothole's help was granted. Any touch, any look, anything that she would give him was devoured as though it was the first time he had ever been in love, which he had to admit by now was quite possible.

"I think we'll start with the back bushes and work out way forward," Brian said as the pickup rolled up to the back gate. "Rory, Logan can hand to you out of the truck, and you can bring them to me in the yard."

Rory nodded, and they went to work. Every time she walked back through the gate, Logan felt as though he had never seen anyone so beautiful in his fie. Soil-stained and sweaty, she looked like heaven.

When all but the two flats of flowers were unloaded, he jumped out of the pickup and handed her a flat with a smile as he grabbed the other one.

"Put the red ones over on that side, and the pink ones over by this bed," Brian said as though commanding a whole army of volunteers rather than just two willing helpers.

Logan glanced down at the flat in his hand and hesitated for one small second before he looked at her. With a wink, she indicated the far fence with a nod of her head, and then she started over to the shed. The smile came from so far down inside him, it was like it had no beginning, at that moment he hoped that it had no end.

OoOO

"So, does your Mom think we're absolutely nuts?" Logan asked Rory as they drove through the darkened streets to the 40 Watt.

It was only ten o'clock, but already her eyelids were feeling the effects of working all day. "Are you kidding? She thinks the two of you are gods."

"She's led a sheltered life, hasn't she?"

Rory laughed. "No, but Luke's always too busy with the diner to mess with that kind of stuff. I think it's taking her some time to realize there are actually people who like it."

"She's nice."

"Yeah," Rory's gaze trailed to her window, and gently he reached over to her hand and rested his on top of it.

"It was fun working with you today."

"Yea, it was." She smiled in spite of her body's vague whisper that it could really use a bed and a pillow right now. "I kind of felt sorry for Brian though. All this has got to be a little head-snapping right now."

"I'm just thankful he didn't knock my block off."

"You deserved it," she said with a grin as the pulled into the parking lot.

"Yeah? Well, it would've been worth it," he said, matching her grin as he swung the car into a parking place and killed the engine. "Shall we?"

As, "No, let's go home" screamed in her head, she said, "Sure."

OoOoOO

The lights, the crowd, they all seemed to move outside of her as though she was watching them on some big screen television. She half-followed, half-led him through the crush of bodies until they found a table towards the back.

"Man, this place is nuts," he yelled, sliding into the seat next to her.

"No kidding," she said, squinting her eyes, trying to block out the noise.

He cleared his throat and sat forward, moving to the music slightly before he looked at her. "You okay?"

"Umm, yeah. It's a little loud though."

His movement stopped. "You want to go somewhere else?"

She looked into his eyes, and the side that said she didn't want to rock this lovely boat she'd found herself in lost out. "Home?"

"Let's go." In a heartbeat, he stood and offered her his hand. Clutching hands so as not to get separated, they eased their way back through the crowd for the door. Once outside, Logan took a deep breath. "Man, I hate those places."

Rory looked at him in shock and confusion. "Well, then why did you bring me there?"

His gaze dropped to hers as though he hadn't realized he had said those words out loud. "Umm, I thought you wanted to go."

"No," she said with a shake of her head. I hate them too. I only went because you wanted to go."

He walked three steps and then laughed a short laugh. Two more steps and one look from her, and they were both laughing hysterically. "So, what do you really want to do?"

"Go home and rub my legs with a gallon of Sports Cream," She said pleadingly.

"I hear you there."

OoOo

She unlocked the door and threw her keys on the television next to the glass of flowers. "If you don't mind, I'm going to get out of these heels."

"Your place, you should at least be comfortable," Logan said with a shrug as he walked to the kitchen and flipped on the light. "You want some apple cider?"

"That sounds great."

Quickly she went down the hall and yanked off her shoes as soon as she was in her room. A small blister from her tennis shoes throbbed on her little toe, and she swiped off the panty hose and tight skirt for good measure. Already she felt better. The sounds in the kitchen were soothing, and without thinking too much, she pulled on her oldest jeans and a t-shirt.

"Well, you look comfortable," Logan said when she walked back into the kitchen barefoot.

"I highly recommend it," she said invitingly.

With one more look, he shrugged out of his jacket and unbuttoned one more button at the top of his shirt.

"Better?" she asked.

"Definitely."

They took their cups of apple cider into the living room, and she waited for him to sit down before she carefully folded herself onto the couch next to him.

"Oh, yeah, this is much better." She took a drink and then laid her head back on the couch.

"Totally."

"So, tell me, what else don't I know about you," she said, sipping and feeling completely at ease t with him.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

OoOoO

When he kissed her goodnight after midnight, it was all he could do to walk out of her apartment, but he had learned a lot from Brian and from Mandy, and no matter what he wasn't going to mess this up by rushing anything.

Once home, he stepped into his darkened apartment and climbed the stairs quietly. In the darkness his hand reached for his doorknob.

"You just getting in?" Brian asked from behind him, and Logan jumped.

"Don't do that."

"Sorry," Brian said. "How's Rory?"

"Great," Logan said, feeling like a traitor for admitting it.

"I'm glad," Brian said, and Logan heard the effects of getting your head snapped.

"The inn's looking nice."

"Yeah it is." And the sadness disappeared from Brian' voice. "Lorelai called me after you left. Seems that one of the people in Stars Hollow wants to talk to us."

"Us?" Logan asked in confusion.

"Yeah, Easton Designs and Landscaping has its second customer."

OoOoOO

"Logan, help me with this," Brian called, stepping from the alley into the yard the next Saturday, and both Logan and Rory left their work and walked over to join Brian at the fence.

"What'd you get?" Logan asked.

"The walk," Brian said, swinging himself into he pickup. "Here."

One rock at a time, they unloaded the truck until there was a nice sized hill of multi-colored stones in the middle of the grass.

"Now the real work begins," Brian said, dusting his hands off as the backdoor squeaked open, and Lorelai stepped out.

"Just thought I would come see how things are going," she said from the porch.

The three of them looked up as Rory smiled, "We're just getting ready to do the walk way."

"Looks good. I'll just stay over here, I'd hate to get in your way. There's stuff to eat in the kitchen when you guys are hungry. And of course I would help but Michel can't be left alone at the desk for very long before he attacks someone," she said cheekily, turning slowly to go back into the inn as they got back to work.

OoOoOo

"Okay," Brian said with his hands on his hips as he surveyed the project. "I'll do the concrete and you and Rory set the stones in place."

Logan nodded seriously. The project looked enormous, but he wasn't chickening out now. For one thing, Rory's presence wouldn't let him, but more than that, this was Brian's dream, and he was going to do anything he could to help that dream become a reality.

"We'll do one section at a time," Brian said, mapping out the plan. "That way we won't have a mess if we don't get finished."

"Smart," Logan said.

"Why don't you go ahead and line the stones out while we get this ready?"

OoOoOo

"What is up with you and Logan?" Lorelai asked when Rory was rummaging around the kitchen, gathering things up for them to eat.

"Why?" Rory asked defensively.

"Because you're all over him and totally ignoring Brian."

"Brian and I broke up," Rory said off-handedly although she hated that admission.

"Really? Any reason why?"

Rory shrugged. "It wasn't meant to be."

"And now you and Logan are together?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well."

Lorelai stood in silence for a long moment. "I knew this would happen. Since the day I met Logan and saw you too together, I knew Brian wasn't the one." She said with a smile as she left.

Rory stopped for a few moments, smiling and shaking her head. Leave it to her mother to claim to predict the future.

_Please review! _


	21. Chapter 21

_Sorry for the delay, my last semester is in full swing now and that's what happens. Right now, there are only going to be a couple chapters left (but that might change). Stories often seem to go downhill after the tension and waiting is over, and Rory and Logan are together. And I don't want to lose sight of what it was originally about. So, if you've read but never reviewed, please leave me a note sometime before the end letting me know what you think. I'd appreciate it:)_

"What do you say, you up for a little Frisbee?" Logan asked, swinging into her cubicle on Wednesday.

"Now?" she asked skeptically.

"I've got lunch," he said, holding up a small basket, and she smiled.

"You're crazy."

"Well, thank you very much. Now, shut that thing off, and let's go."

OoOoOo

She always like these five dollar dates because they had nothing to do with impressing each other. They only meant that they liked spending time together. Hand-in-hand they walked across the park as dark gray clouds gathered above them.

"My luck it's gong to rain," Rory said, looking up.

"No, it's supposed to go way around us."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"On the weather forecast."

"And you believe the weatherman?"

He looked at her incredulously. "You don't?"

"No, but I'm thinking I'd better start paying more attention to him, or I won't be able to talk you out of anything."

They sat down on the lush grass, and he dug into the basket. Her feet still hurt from working all day Saturday so she reached down, loosened both buckles, and pulled her shoes off. She curled her toes into the soft grass. It was all she now asked from life. He handed her a sandwich, which she took, and then she turned and laid her head on his though.

"This is nice," she said, looking up at him.

"It's too bad we can't do this everyday."

"Do what? Play hooky?" he asked with a challenge in his voice.

"Yeah." She shifted on his leg.

"The Rory Gilmore I know never plays hooky."

"I don't seem like the type who does a lot of things," she said matter-of-factly.

He smiled at that. "So, what are we doing this weekend?"

"I don't know." She munched on her sandwich. "I kind of wanted to go see a movie."

"What's playing?"

She shrugged. "I'll look it up."

"That'd be…"

At that moment, a thunderclap cracked above them, and his gaze broke from hers and snapped up to the heavens. "Oh, no." He scrambled to his feet, trying to help her up and grab everything off the grass simultaneously.

"So much for the weatherman!" she squealed as the sky opened up, dropping one continuous sheet of rain on top of them in the span of seconds.

He grabbed everything and her hand and made a break for it.

"My shoes!" she said, breaking free from his grasp and running back.

"I've got them," he called, standing out in the open and getting more soaked by the second. "Come on!"

With her hand stretched out to his, she ran through the downpour, and once at his side they stumbled across the grass. Screaming and laughing they ran, her feet sinking into the soft earth with every step.

Her hair plastered to both sides of her face, and the chill of the rainwater slithered down her back. "It's so cold!"

"Here, here," he said, fumbling with the keys and trying to hand her the stuff so he could open the door.

"Don't drop my sandwich!"

"You got it?" Without waiting for an answer, he let go, turned, and unlocked the car. The rain continued to come down ever when she had jumped into the car and slammed the door. Waves of giggles washed over her as he bounded into his side, jumped in, and slammed his door.

"What was it you were saying about this storm going around us?" she asked, laughing at his soaked state.

"It did," he said with a laugh. "It went here." He turned to her and ran the back of his finger down one side of her face. "And here." His hand shifted and ran its way down the other side of her face as she melted into his touch. "See, it went right around us."

And slowly he leaned in to her. His fingers traced their way through the spirals of curls dripping down the sides of her face as every point of her body strained to get closer to his. The heat in his touch traveled down her arms, and she glanced at him only once more before the magnet of his lips pressed her to him.

There was no running, no escaping from the request of his kiss, and she dissolved into his arms as they came together. All her body wanted to do was stay right there forever.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered as his kisses traced their way away from her lips to the sides of her neck. "So beautiful."

When the heat of his kisses traced their way back up to her lips and then departed altogether, she floated for a few more precious moments before she opened her eyes and found his almond brown ones gazing back at her.

"How did I almost miss this?" he asked, searching her eyes for an answer that she didn't have.

Never, in all her dreams, had life been this breathtakingly amazing. "Brian was right."

Logan's face contorted in confusion. "About what?"

Softly Rory smiled. "He told me, sometimes good is standing in the way of great."

The edges of Logan's lips turned up in a smile. "And what did he mean by that?"

"This." Tenderly she leaned into him again, thankful that she had dared to reach out for great.

OoOoOoO

By the time they made it back to the office, still dripping wet and unbelievably late, the knowledge that nothing and no one could ever come between them had been cemented as surely as the rocks of her mother's walk now were.

Oblivious to the stares, they waked hand-in-hand down the cubicles to their offices. Her shoes were in her hand rather than on her feet, but she didn't care. Even the chill of drying rainwater seeping through her wasn't enough to put out the warmth that had been left by his kiss.

"So I'll see you after work?" Logan asked with the barest hint of a smile.

"I'm looking forward to it," she said, cocking her head to the side teasingly.

"Me too," he said, and then reluctantly their hands parted.

She felt the chill the instant his hand left hers, but pushing that down below the image of his smile, she floated to her desk. Once in her chair she took a deep breath, and then she exhaled slowly. The most perfect day of her life, and the best part was, it was only the beginning. The beginning of something she was looking forward to enjoying for a very, very long time.

OoOoOo

"I need to talk to you," Elliot said seriously as he poked his head into Logan's cubicle at five 'til five.

"Oh, okay," Logan said, his forehead furrowing in concern. "Have a seat."

"No, we better do this in my office," Elliot said.

Fear jumped into Logan's throat as he stood from his desk and followed Elliot out in to the hall where he met up with a very concerned looking Rory. A silent conversation passed between them.

"What's going on?" Logan's gaze asked her.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's not good."

He set his jaw. "Whatever it is, we'll get through it. Don't worry."

But he knew she was worried. Very, very worried.

"Have a seat," Elliot said, closing the door behind them.

Carefully Rory sat down, and then Logan slipped past her leg and took his seat. They watched Elliot step around his desk, sit, and fold his hands onto the desk, each movement eating seconds and grating its way over Logan's raw nerves.

"Now, you both know I think the world of you," Elliot finally said slowly, "and that makes this that much harder." He exhaled and shook his head. "I want you to know I've suspected something for quite some time now, but I can't overlook this thing anymore."

"This thing…?" Logan started, and then cleared his throat. "What thing?"

"The two of you," Elliot said, watching his hand between them palm up. "The policy manual strictly forbids interoffice romances of any kind. Now, I've tried to look the other way, but people are starting to talk, and well, I'm afraid my hands are tied."

"Tied? What does that mean exactly?" Logan asked, shifting in his seat and wishing his shoes wouldn't squish so much. It was like they were determined not to let him lie his way out of this.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to make a decision. Either you end things now, which to tell the truth, I don't really see happening, or one of you is going to have to go."

"But that can't be it," Logan said incredulously. "Just like that? Isn't there some other option?"

Elliot's gaze dropped to his desktop. "Yeah, I could fire both of you right now."

The phrase shoved Logan back into his seat, and he glanced at Rory who was white as flour. Despite the death pall hanging over them, he reached across the expanse between their chairs and took her hand.

"When do you need to know?" Logan asked, focusing his attention on Elliot.

"I can give you to the end of the week, but I need your decision by Monday."

Hand-in-hand if only to keep both of them standing, they walked out of Elliot's office.

"I'm really sorry about this," Elliot said, but all his apologies changed nothing, and they all knew it.

Watching her every step, Logan walked by her side down to heir offices, where she stepped over to her desk just as he had seen her do a hundred-million times before. She never met his gaze when she sat down, and the drying hair ringing her face was only a testament to the fact that come Monday one or the other of them wouldn't be here.

"You want to go home?" Logan asked her.

"No," she said, her voice barely a whisper, " I've got to finish up this article."

"Can't it wait 'til tomorrow?"

"No, I really need to get it finished."

He glanced at her wall, knowing how much he was going to miss that wall no matter what happened. "Okay. Well, I'll wait for you then. Let me know when you're ready."

She nodded although no sound came out of her mouth. All he wanted to do was sweep her out of that chair and carry her away to somewhere with no regulations and no asinine rules. With a small shake of his head, he stepped out of her cubicle and escaped to his own.

OoOo

Donuts were her first thought when his presence evaporated from in front of her. She would miss the donuts and coffee the most, not because of them, but because he wouldn't sit in that chair across her desk, and then reaching in to grab one, look up and say, "Do you mind?"

No, she didn't mind. She had never minded. Never once in five years. His presence across her desk was a given, a permanent fixture to ingrained that the thought of him not being there twisted her heart into a tight knot.

Slowly her hand went to the stack of notes sitting at her elbow, but for all the rationalization of her brain, she couldn't focus on them. She couldn't focus on anything. Not one thing other than the empty chair across the desk, staring back at her – telling her that once again someone she loved was leaving. Only this time she was sure her heart would never recover.

OoOoO

By six-thirty he was getting worried about her. It had been too long since he'd heard any noise from her side of the wall. With three clicks of the mouse, his computer shut down, and he stood and grabbed his jacket. He walked the four steps to her cubicle and ducked inside.

"You ready?" he asked, but when she looked up, he saw the tears in her eyes. Quickly he made the decision for her. "Come on. We're going home."

He reached across her and shut her computer down before taking her hand and pulling her up from the chair. Together they walked to the elevators, both trying not to count the number of times they had left like this. The elevator dinged, and they got on. She hadn't so much as glanced at him since Elliot's ultimatum, and his heart didn't' like that at all.

Everything – every last sacrifice would be worth it if on the other side of this mess she was still with him. They walked through the atrium and to the parking garage.

"You going to be okay to drive?" he asked softly, and she nodded vaguely. "Okay, I'll meet you at your place."

She nodded again although he couldn't really be sure any information was actually making its way to her brain.

"I'll meet you there."

Like a zombie, she crawled into her car and fired the engine. He breathed a sigh of resignation and turned to his own. In minutes they were at her apartment, and the concern in his chest increased when he saw her. On way or the other he had to remember that she was the most important thing in this whole illogical mess.

Wordlessly they climbed the steps to her apartment. She unlocked the door and walked in, leaving it swinging. With a shake of his head he followed her in even as she disappeared down the hallway.

"Are we going to talk about this?" he called after her. "Ace?" The door to her room closed, and he sighed. He stood in the middle of her living room, waiting, knowing that sooner or later she had to talk him.

When the door to her room finally opened again, she trekked back through the living room to the kitchen.

"You want something?" she asked, sounding strangely normal.

"Yeah, I want you to talk to me." He followed her into the kitchen. "I really think we need to talk about this."

"Why?"

"Why? Because we have to decide what to do."

"Between what? Bad, worse, and so horrible I don't even want to think about it?"

"In exactly what order are you putting our options into those categories?"

"I quit, you quit, we quit each other."

"Okay, well, at least we agree on that," he said, sitting down at her table.

"So you think I should quit?"

"No," he said slowly, "actually I think I should."

An indelible look of pain scratched its way across her face. "I don't want you to quit."

"And I don't want to quit." He stood from the chair, stepped over to her, and put his hands on her shoulders. "But more than that, I don't want to lose you." And then he folded her into his chest.

"I don't want to think about going to work without you there," she said, and the tears were obvious in every word.

"Yeah, but it's not like you won't see me. I'm sure eventually I'll have to ask you out to some loud, uninhabitable night club or something."

She hit his chest with her hand. "This isn't funny."

"No, but it's for real."

"What are you going to do? Where are you going to work?"

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head honestly. "I really don't know."

OoOoOoo

Logan was sitting at his own table mapping out his options over a bowl of Cheerios when the front door closed.

"Have I got the best news ever," Brian said practically skipping into the room, but with one look at Logan, he stopped. "Who died?"

"My job," Logan said, crunching his way through the Cheerios.

"You got fired?"

"I got run ruled."

"Huh?"

"The rules 'specifically forbid interoffice relationships,'" Logan said sarcastically.

"Oh, man." Brian sat down heavily in the chair. "Are you serious?"

Logan nodded.

"How's Rory?"

"Worse."

"So, she got canned too?"

"No, if I leave, they won't fire her. That's the only good thing although I'm not sure she's all that happy about it."

"I can imagine."

"I'm going job hunting Monday. I'll start with the A's and work my way through the phonebook. Surely somebody has some work for an unemployed Yale graduate."

Slowly Brian sat forward and laid his chin in his hands as he stared at Logan. "I might know of something – if you're interested."

"What?" Logan asked, holding his spoon in the air skeptically.

"Well, I'm kind of looking for a partner."

The spoon dropped back to the side of the bowl. "A partner?"

"Yeah, somebody to help with the work and the books and the designs." A small smile started on Brian's face. "You wouldn't happen to know anybody who might be interested, would you?"

"Are you…? You're kidding."

"Nope, I had three more calls today. Lorelai must be the most connected woman on the face of the earth."

Suddenly Logan jumped from his chair and ran for the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Brian asked in confusion.

"I've got to make a phone call."

OoOoOo

Rory was happy for him, for them. She really, really, honestly was. Logan would be much happier outside of the stifling office, and Brian's business needed all the help it could get, but for all the rationalizations of her mind, her heart simply couldn't be happy. It wanted Logan, next door to her cubicle, where he belonged – permanently.

When she awake the next morning, every bone her body ached, and she wasn't sure if it was from the chill of the day before or from the chill that had taken up residence in her heart. She showered, dressed for work, and put on her make-up. It wasn't until she saturated the air with Eternity that her heart lifted if only lightly.

Once at work she sat down at her desk and splayed her fingers across it. She already felt the mission piece across the desk from her.

"Good morning," Logan said happily as he stepped into her office, donuts in hand and a smile on his face.

"Morning," she said, not nearly as enthusiastically.

He set the donuts on her desk and sat down, before pointing at the bag. "Do you mind?"

Slowly she shook her head as tears flooded her eyes. He was mid-reach when he saw the look on her face. Without bothering with the donut, he stood and crossed to the other side of her desk. Gently he knelt beside her and took her in his arms.

"It's going to be okay. I promise."

Her tears wound down her face and onto his jacket.

"Hey, hey," he said, tenderly pulling her backward and leveling his gaze at her. "Maybe this is for the best."

She shook her head in utter desolation. "How can it be for the best?"

He smiled softly. "Well, you know, sometimes good is standing in the way of great."

"I don't want to be here without you."

For a long moment, he just looked at her. "I know." His eyes closed as he folded her into his embrace. "But you're with me regardless. One hundred percent. Logistics is just a detail." He wanted to hold her and never let her go, but work called. Two more days, and this reality would be no more. "I'd better let you get to work, or we might both be out on the street."

She nodded, and when he let her go, it looked like a small gust of wind might blow her over.

"I'll be back for lunch."

"I'll be here."

OoOoOo

Rory had thought of this moment so many times in her life that she ought to have had it memorized by now, but in all her dreams witting here under the canopy of trees, his arm wrapped securely around her shoulders, it had never felt like this before.

"We've got five orders including your mom's, and we should finish hers this weekend easy," Logan said as though this moment would really go on forever.

Her head nodded, but she heard precious little of what he was saying.

"Brian's got this deal work out with his uncle so that we can lease the equipment on a daily or weekly basis until next year at least. I've worked up some figure on it, and we out to be able to start buying some of our own equipment by June, and it's a good thing there are two of us to design, it's going to take it if the order keep coming in like they are."

She just listened; they didn't need her input.

"And during the week I'm going to concentrate on mowing and taking orders, then after hours and on the weekends, Brian's going to come in and help with the actual landscaping."

He sounded so excited, it almost broke her heart.

"Brian's taking all kinds of pictures, so we can show customers when we get these five orders filled, but hopefully we won't have to sell too much. Brian says in this work, you do a good job and the references will come."

His speech wound to a stop, and he arched his neck to look at her. "I'm boring you."

"No," she said honestly. "I want to hear about it."

Then his arm tightened on her shoulders. "It's really going to be all right. I promise."

"I know." But her heart didn't believe one, solitary word of it. Monday she would be here by herself, and not one part of that was all right.

OoOo

At four-thirty on Friday, Rory was buried in a stack of printouts, wishing her heartbeats would quit ticking off the seconds until it was time for him to leave.

"Hey Ace," Logan said, slapping the side of the wall, and just underneath the cheerfulness, she heard the sadness.

"Hello, you." When she looked up, something insider her said she should imprint this image on her brain for Monday and for the rest of her life. "What's up?"

"Well, I just thought I'd come by and give you these." Slowly he bent to the floor behind him, picked something up, and stepped into her office. With a hesitant smile, he set two packages on her desk.

She wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "What's this?"

"A going away present."

"I'm not going anywhere."

But when their gazes met, his said, "Yeah, but I am." He slipped into the chair across from her desk, folded his hands in front of him, and watched expectantly. "Open them."

Looking at him skeptically, she pulled the tape off one of the boxes. It snapped up, and carefully she slid the ribbon off. His gaze never left her face as the paper dropped away from the box. She opened it and reached inside.

"Logan," she whispered as she pulled out a clear crystal vase with tiny gold vines and leaves growing up the sides of it. "It's beautiful."

"Open the other one," he said, smiling as though his heart was about to burst.

Quickly she tore into the wrapping paper on the second one, and came face-to-face with the exact same box. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tore it open, reached inside, and pulled out the first vase's identical twin.

"Two of them?" she asked, setting them side-by-side on her desk and then looking at him questioningly.

"I couldn't decide where you would need one more, here or at home." He shrugged. "So, I got you one for both places."

Happy tears leaped into her eyes. "I don't believe you. Thank you so much."

And the fact that she was talking about more than the vases didn't have to be articulated.

OoOo

When he stepped back into her office fifteen minutes later, Rory's gaze went immediately to the box under his arm. Five years and it had come to this.

"You ready?" he asked.

She smiled bravely. "I guess."

And together, box and vase in hand, they walked to the elevators knowing life from this point on would never be the same.


	22. Chapter 22

_Thanks for your reviews! _

All day Saturday as they worked side-by-side finishing up her mother's yard, she watched him, imprinting every move, every glance, every touch for Monday morning. Somehow she hoped it would make it not hurt so badly when she walked in and the cubicle next to hers was empty. Somehow, but even as she thought it, she knew it was a lie. Nothing could make that feeling any better.

"Oh, it's so beautiful," Lorelai said, pushing through the backdoor and then ducking back into the inn. "Sookie! Sookie, you've got to come see this!"

Sookie came out onto the patio as her and Lorelai stood, taking in all their hard work. Tears stung Rory's heart as she felt a sense of accomplishment.

"The soaker hoses are out," Brian said, standing from the walk where he had just finished brushing the excess concrete from the last stone. "So all you'll have to do is turn the water on and off."

"Oh and there are rosebushes," Sookie said, dragging Lorelai across the lawn to the fence edge, "and a real garden! We can plant a few radishes and carrots and tomatoes; maybe even give Jackson a run for his money. Oh I love it!"

Lorelai smiled as she hugged Rory. "Well I am certainly impressed. I might just sleep out here tonight," she continued, sitting down in the little swing. "It's so peaceful."

Rory smiled as the tears prickled her eyes. She was glad she'd had a hand in doing something to make her mom and Sookie so happy; and she had the chance to leave her own mark on the Dragonfly. At that moment, she felt Logan's hand brush hers, and like grabbing for a lifeline, she pulled it into her own.

Although the short-term looked bleak, she had no trouble at all picturing them sitting in their own backyard years into the future. It would be heaven on earth.

OoOoO

Never in her life had she dreaded something so completely, and suddenly it was upon her. Monday morning. April Fool's day, and for all the rationalizations of her brain, she wished that all this was just one, big, unfunny joke.

Feeling his absence like a wet blanket, she stepped off the elevator and kept her head up as she walked past the sympathetic glances of her coworkers. Somehow she would gee through today, and then somehow she would get through tomorrow. One day at a time until somewhere down the road it wouldn't feel like a thousand tiny needles were being shoved into her heart.

She slipped into her office, forcing the tears to stay down. Carefully she dropped into her chair, and pulled the first stack of notes her hand chanced onto. Just get on with it. Keep walking. Don't think, and maybe you're heart won't shatter into a million pieces.

"Miss Gilmore?" a man asked as he suddenly stepped into her office and she jumped.

"Yes?" But the word lodged in the center of her throat when she looked up and saw the bouquet of daisies, gladiolas, and tiny pink carnations he was holding.

"These are you for, Ma'am." Carefully he transferred them into her hands, and then handed her the card with a smile. "Have a nice day."

"Th-thanks," she squeaked out, but he was already gone. In a daze she looked down into the flowers and pulled them to her to smell their fragrances, which met somewhere in the middle of the bouquet in perfect accord.

Her fingers opened the card even as her other hand held the bouquet.

'I am with you always, now and through all eternity to come. With all my love, Logan.'

And in one breath the tears came.

OoOoO

When she regained enough composure, she walked down to the bathroom, filled the vase with water, and set the flowers in it. It was strange, but it really did make her feel better. The telephone picked that moment to ring, and off-handedly she answered it, still gazing at the incredible bouquet sitting on her desk. "Features, this is Rory."

"Well, hello, features this is Rory," Logan said, and she smiled.

"Hello, you."

"I just wanted to make sure everything's going okay."

"Yes, it is. In fact, I just got this unbelievable bouquet."

"Oh, really?" he asked innocently. "From whom?"

"From the most amazing guy I know."

"Huh. You'll have to introduce me sometime."

She smiled. "So, why are you calling me?"

"Just wondering what you're doing for lunch."

"Sandwich and chips." Her heart turned over thinking of sitting under the canopy of trees alone.

"Want some company?"

"Do you have to ask?"

OoOoOO

"Hey Ace," he said, slapping the side of her wall at five 'til noon.

When she looked up, every thought other than him screeched to a halt. Gone were the starched shirt and the loafers. They had been replaced by a nice t-shirt and jeans, and she knew it was an image she could definitely get used to.

"Nice flowers," he said, stepping over to her desk and admiring them.

"Yeah, I thought so myself." Slowly she stood, crossed past her desk, and folded him into her arms as their lips met. Instantly white-hot flames engulfed her as she pulled her to him hungrily. After a forever of holding him, she backed away enough to arrest the passion flowing between them. "You know, I think I'm glad you quit."

"You're glad? Why?" he asked, pulling back and looking at her in confusion.

"Because I kind of like you like this."

"Like what?"

"Like this," she said, and she pulled his lips to hers again. In all her fantasies about what it would be like if he walked in and did exactly this, it had never been this perfect.

Slowly he pulled himself back. "You know, if we don't go get lunch, I'm thinking we're going to wish there was a door here – if not a ceiling ."

She laughed even as one part of her said that would be all right. "Fine, if you can't handle it."

"Oh, I can handle it all right." His hand wrapped tightly around her waist. "I can handle anything you want to give me."

Her eyes sparkled as she gazed up at him. "Don't be so sure about that."

OoOoOo

The sandwiches were gone, and they sat, just enjoying the time they had left together.

"So, what are we doing this weekend?" he asked, leaning back on the bench, his thumb rubbing circles on her shoulder.

"Why? You got something in mind?"

"I just thought you might come over. I could make some Tahitian Chicken, and we could put on a cd, and we could have our own little party."

"Tahitian Chicken? What are you expecting a full moon?"

He smiled invitingly. "Actually I consulted my calendar this morning, and I called North Carolina earlier."

"The tides?"

With a smile he nodded, "They're out. So, what do you say?"

"I say tell me what time, and I'll be there."

OoOoOo

With one more check of the napkins and the candles, Logan brushed off the main light, plunging the room into a glow of soft candlelight. Everything was in place. Not just in the apartment, but between the two of them. He felt it, and he knew she did too.

Brian had gone out for the evening, ducking out with the words, "Don't worry. You can have the apartment to yourself. I'll just crash at Dave's tonight."

Although Logan was grateful, the look in Brian's eyes brought back a familiar ache. If only Brian could just find someone as wonderful as Rory. Someone who loved him as a friend fist, and then…

The doorbell rang, and quickly Logan checked his hair in the mirror one more time. With a deep breath, he swung the door open, and then the last piece fell into place.

"Hello, you," she said, from behind an enormous bunch of flowers.

"Hi." His eyebrows went up as she held them out to him.

"For you."

"For me? Flowers?"

She shrugged. "I had to find some way to use the vase, it was looking all sad on top of my television."

Carefully he lifted the bouquets and the gold-leafed crystal shone back at him. "But it's your vase."

"Yea, well, I figured loaning it out this once wouldn't be a crime."

"Well, thanks." He turned the flowers and met her lips on the way up.

"You're welcome." She followed him into the apartment and shut the door.

The table sparkled in the faded light, and she stepped to it as he placed the flowers in the center of it and looked at her.

"Nice," she said appreciatively.

As his nerves threatened to overwhelm him, he strode into the kitchen and banged the pans around a little more than he wanted to. Even his movements screamed how unbelievably nervous he was.

"I hope you like broccoli." Another pan lid clattered sending his nerves scattering again.

"I'm sure I'll love it," she said softly, and something told him she wasn't just talking about broccoli.

OoOoOo

As they sat over the candlelight dinner, Rory cocked her head to one side. "So, how's work going?"

"Good. I got final approval on Mrs. Helsley's sketches today, so we're starting on that tomorrow."

She nodded. "And how many others do you have lined up?"

"Three, but I got another call this morning about one at Buckhead."

"Buckhead?" she asked in amazement.

"Yeah, I think I'll wear my jacket and tie for that one."

"I'd recommend it," she said, taking a sip of water. "So what does Brian think about all of this?"

"Well, if we get any more orders, he's thinking about quitting with his Uncle Jack."

"Then what?"

Logan shrugged. "Then we shift from temporary to permanent. Take out a loan, get our own equipment, set up shop."

"Easton and Huntzberger?"

"Design and Landscaping." His happiness spread from his heart to her smile. "We design and plant your dream."

OoOoOO

When all the dishes were cleared away, Logan took her hand and pulled her into the living room and onto the couch. Gently he rested his arm around her shoulders.

"So, how's your work?" he asked, gazing at her profile as she nodded.

"I'm getting by." She leaned back against him and brushed her hand across his shirt. "But it's still really weird."

"I can imagine."

They held each other motionless for a long time.

"I'm glad you're happy," she said. "You deserve it."

"I don't know about that. I was the idiot who almost let this slip through my fingers."

"But you didn't. That's what's important."

She turned her face up to his, and although every piece of him wanted nothing more than to pull her to him, he remembered what Brian had said about taking it slow.

"You want to dance?"

"Dance?" she asked, following him as he stood. "But there's no music."

"Does there need to be?" he asked softly.

He offered her his hand, and she stepped into him. Her hand lay effortlessly against his heart, and he folded his own hand over hers.

So many nights he had sat here, wondering what it would fee like to have her in his arms. So many times he had told himself to give up the dream because he would never have it, and now suddenly here he was in the middle of it. No matter what, he would be there for her. He would always hold her in his embrace.

Their bodies moved in perfect sync with the imaginary music and with each other. Slowly, they moved, guiding and then following, following and then guiding, with no questions, no hesitation.

Slowly Logan stopped moving and he pulled away from her just enough to be able to see into her eyes. "I love you Rory. You're the one I've been looking for forever."

She smiled into the fading light. "I love you too. I have ever since the day I saw you at the Courant."

"Draped over your desk with a computer in your hands."

She nodded. "I just never thought I had a chance with you."

"You have more than a chance." Control slipped away from him as he bent his lips to her neck and met the soft skin there with a moan. All of her would never be enough. Eternity itself would never been enough. The want pulsing through him told him that with perfect clarity. "I love you Ace."

Slowly his lips slid further down until they pushed past the v at her neck, and suddenly he felt her stiffen and push away.

"Logan, no."

"What?" he asked in confusion, even as he felt the emptiness of her departure from his arms.

"I can't do this," she said, backing away from him, and the panic was in her eyes.

"What?"

"I can't." she said brokenly

"Rory." He reached for her, but she evaded his grasp.

"No!" In wild-eyed fear she fled around the couch for the door.

But letting her go wasn't an option, in four steps he caught her at the door, and braced himself against it to prevent her flight.

"Let me go," she said, looking pleadingly past him to the door.

"No," he said with a simple shake of his head and then he took a breath to calm the pain in his own soul. "Not until you tell me why."

Her whole body was quaking with the unshed tears. Gently he reached out to her, and this time she didn't run. He took hold of her arms, but instead of the couch, he led her to the stairs and sat her down on the second one up. "Talk to me."

She looked at the floor two steps down. "I… can't."

"Yes, you can." He sat, watching her. "Whatever it is, you can tell me, and you aren't leaving before you do."

Her eyes fell closed as she fought against the onslaught of tears.

"I'm right here, and I'm not leaving – no matter what." His words reached across the chasm between them. "Whatever it is, you're not alone. We'll deal with it together."

"I already told you about it. My whole life, I've caused my mom so much trouble," Rory choked out through the tears. "She got pregnant at sixteen and I don't think my grandparents have ever truly forgiven who for how much she disgraced them. Not to mention my dad's parents."

Logan's head furrowed. "Rory…"

"No, Logan," she interrupted, and the dim light flickered off the single tear that slid down her cheek. "All the fights and snide comments we've endured, it's all because my mom had me. It's my fault."

"Your fault?" he asked as a multitude of questions crashed into his mind. He watched as she curled further and further into a tight ball of fear and sadness.

"If my mom hadn't gotten pregnant with me, she could have gone to Yale and my dad could have gone to Princeton. She wouldn't be a disappointment to my grandparents and maybe her and Chris could have gotten married later. There's just so much that would have been different," the pain screeched across her face as her chest heaved with tears.

"I remember one night at my grandparents, Chris' parents were there too. They were all so upset, shouting at each other. They said mom derailed my dad's life by having me. She drug him down with her…"

Slowly he slide across the step to her side and pulled her in to him. Her sobs echoed in the room as he bent and brushed her hair with his lips. He was here, that's all that he had to do.

"They started screaming and yelling and I just stood there and did nothing. I stood there, and watched them criticize my mom, and I didn't say anything."

"But you're not responsible for their actions, or your dad's."

"And over the years, I always thought they would work it out. They could get together and we could be one happy family. But when he finally did and they had the chance to be together, we found out his girlfriend was pregnant." She clung to him as though her very existence depended upon it.

"They broke up. After he came to my grandparent's house looking for us, we never saw him again."

He pulled her closer.

"He wasn't there for my high school graduation or when I graduated from Yale. He wasn't there to go to my debates and he didn't call on my birthdays."

"Rory," he whispered as his eyes fell closed.

"But I love my mom. She is all I really need, and growing up, we depended so much on each other. But I still would have liked to have my dad around…"

He pulled her closer.

"So after he left us for the last time, right then and there, I swore I would never trust any guy that far. Never."

Logan let the words hit his heart. He needed to feel her pain, to understand it, because more than life itself he wanted to help her through it, but he couldn't do that from above her – he had to get down into the pit that she was in, take her hand, and together they would find their way back out.

The first thing he had to do was get as honest with her as she had just been with him. "You know, I always thought waiting was stupid. I mean, big deal, so you sleep with somebody. You get what you want, she gets what she wants, and everybody's happy. You knew me at Yale."

A blonde lying naked in a purple bedroom flitted across his mind, and even as he held Rory, the regret for that mistake twisted his heart. "But it was never about love for me. It was about self-satisfaction.

"It was just a way for me to pass the time. I can't explain it exactly, but I was looking for something to fill this big, gaping hole in m heart. When Mandy and I were together, for a few brief moments, that hole felt full, but it never lasted."

Softly Rory laid her hand on the middle of his chest. "And now?"

His smile came easily then, and he pulled her loser. "Connecting with you, letting you into my world, and you letting me in. That's real. And when we sleep together, it won't be out of self-satisfaction or because I'm bored. It'll be because we are together, bonded, cemented together forever."

He wrapped one leg over hers, and she snuggled against him in perfect trust. The light fell across them as their bond solidified.

"Thank you for listening," she said softly after a few moments.

"Thank you for telling me about what's going on."

"You don't think I'm old-fashioned?" Rory asked.

"No, I think you're perfect." Slowly he tightened his hold on her as his head slipped back to the stair post.

OoOoOo

When the candles had burned down to almost nothing, he stood and led Rory to the door.

"I love you, you know that?" he asked, wrapping her into the security of his embrace again.

"I know," she said, with a smile. If all the rest of life was a lie, she knew with no question whatsoever that this was the truth. "I know."

_I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter... I hope to have the last chapter up by the weekend. Please review! _


	23. Chapter 23

For the next three months, every Monday morning there was a new bouquet waiting for her when she made it in to work. In fact, she now looked forward to Monday mornings almost as much as to Friday evenings.

At least two days a week, he managed to get away long enough to come share lunch with her, and although he was no longer right next to her cubicle, they were closer now than they had ever been when he was.

Every Saturday and even a few evenings she helped with whatever they needed as Easton and Huntzberger Design and Landscape bumped twice on the runway and then soared. Orders had come in so quickly that they'd had to hire extra help, and every time Rory watched him, directing the course of the businesses, her heart said that letting him go had been the best thing she had ever done.

Out there, digging in the dirt, making deals, and working on the layouts, it was doing as much to fill the gap in his heart as she ever could have.

"Could you get that shovel out of the back of the truck?" Logan asked her one hot August afternoon as they prepared to naturalize a flowerbed with tulips and daffodils. Spring seemed so far away, but already they were preparing, laying the groundwork now so that beauty would be theirs in the future.

"Here you go," she said, swinging the handle over to him.

He took it and thrust it into the ground as his foot stood atop it effortlessly. "So would you mind if we took a little detour on the way home?"

"A detour?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I want to show you something."

"Show away."

OoOoOo

When they drove past the little sign that read, "Chapman Falls," Rory turned to him in confusion. "Chapman Falls?"

"My friends and I used to come here every summer. We'd hike up the falls and then spend the whole day at the top playing Frisbee and having a picnic."

"Frisbee?" she asked, catching on the word. "I knew you got your five dollar date somewhere."

"Yeah," he said laughing. "I'm not an original." The car swung into a parking space, and he pushed it into park. When the engine was off, he looked at her. "Ready?" 

She stepped out into what was once intense, overwhelming heat, but now the heat had faded, and there was an air of moisture in the air. "Where…?"

"Shh," he said, over the top of the car. "Listen."

In the distance, she heard it – a soft gentle roar.

"Come on." He strode to her side, grabbed her hand, and together they walked wordlessly to the falls.

When they rounded the corner and the beauty of the falls cascaded over her, Rory let it soak into her very spirit. He was letting her not his world, she could feel it.

"Careful," he said, clutching her hand as they began the climb. She felt the safety in his hand, just as she had that first day at her desk. No matter what, he would be there not just to catch her if she ever fell, but to help her fly.

Up, up, they climbed until she wouldn't have been surprised to find herself in the clouds at the top of the hill. When they were almost at the top, he stopped for one moment and glanced down.

"Look at that," he said, turning all the way around and taking her in his arms as they watched the water tumbling down the rocks. It was unbelievable. They stood for what seemed an eternity before he turned back up the hill and took her hand again. "Come on."

At the top, they broke into the fading sunlight, and the sunset was the most spectacular sight she had ever seen. He led her down the trail as the edge of the water rushed past them. Every so many steps he would glance at her as though she might have disappeared since the last time he had looked. "So, you like it?"

"I love it."

He smiled and then pointed to a rock several steps ahead of her. "Let's stop."

"Okay."

Carefully he crawled onto the rock and then helped her up and into his arms. She started to lean back and then realized they might both go tumbling backward if she did.

"It's okay," he said, pulling her back into his chest. "You won't fall."

His chest was like a rock beneath her. He was so solid – not just physically, but emotionally as well. Together they could ask anything they wanted of life, and even if life didn't comply, it would still be okay because they would have each other. It was a belief she had never had in her life.

"You know, I always thought that I wanted the dream – the house, the dogs, the kids," he said as the last rays of sun kissed the earth. "I always thought if I could have that, I'd be happy."

She leaned into him and breathed.

"But all of that wouldn't mean anything if you weren't there to share it with me," he said, softly brushing her hair with his lips. "So, what do you say?"

"About what?" she asked as the words squeezed past her heart.

"About this." Smoothly he pulled a small box from his pocket and wrapped it around in front of her.

Her eyes widened in utter shock. "Logan."

With one snap, he opened the box, even as his arms held her securely. Two diamonds sparkled at her from the center of the band of platinum.

"Rory, would you share my life with me?"

As tears of unbelievable happiness flooded her eyes, she turned to him and met his lips effortlessly. The kiss deepened as her heart pulled her all the way around, but one moment too late her mind realized the rock was no longer beneath her.

"Aaah!" she screamed, but in the heartbeat before she hit the ground, his hands were there, catching her, lifting her gently back into his arms.

"You really shouldn't do that, you know?" he asked, standing next to her even as she regained her balance.

"Me? Do I look like the one who started this?" 

"Yes." He pulled her lips to his again, and her heart soared. When she thought her whole spirit might float right off the falls and fly away, he took a small step back. "Hey, you never answered my question."

"Yes, I did," she said and then pulled his lips back to hers.


	24. Chapter 24

The clattering of forks and dishes rattled around them as they sat in the middle of their family and friends for one last dinner together before they would become husband and wife.

"Hey, Logan," Brian said, checking his watch with a narrowed eye. "You've only got 19 hours left Buddy, you sure you want to go through with this?"

Logan smiled at Brian and then at Rory. "Try and stop me." As the hoots and whistles erupted around them, he laid his lips on hers.

OoOoO

"So, are you ready for this?" Logan asked as they sat in his car outside her house in Stars Hollow. Her apartment was officially someone else's now, and until tomorrow night when his apartment would be hers, she was homeless. Her mom and Luke had taken pity on her and offered her her old room back "for one more night."

"I think I was born ready," she said, leaning into him as joy and peace washed through her. They sat in silence, simply enjoying the moment. 16 hours and counting. Then she laid her hand on his chest and pushed up from him. "Oh, yeah. I've got something for you."

"For me?" he asked skeptically, and then his face narrowed in confusion when she folded herself over the seat and began to dig through the things she had already stored in the back in anticipation of their get away the next night.

"Here it is," she said, returning to the front seat, a white wrapped box in hand.

"What's this?"

"A gift certificate for electric shock therapy," she said with a teasing grin. When he didn't laugh, she laughed for him. "It was a joke, silly." Then she nodded at the box. "Open it."

His gaze never left hers as he tore the wrapping paper away and turned the box over to snap the tape on the sides. The top of the box gave way, and then his gaze dropped as he dug through the white tissues paper to reveal the dark, pressed shirt underneath.

Carefully he pulled it out. "Thanks."

"I thought that way we could match tomorrow night when we change into our going away clothes."

"Match?" he asked in confusion, and with a smile, she lifted the sleeve.

Carefully she turned the cuff up so that a small white 'G' stood out against the fabric.

"Green," he breathed, looking at her, and she nodded.

"For you."

He folded her into his arms and held her for a long moment. "I must be the luckiest guy in the world."

"Yeah," she said when he let go of her, and she wiped her eyes. "And don't you forget it either."

His gaze surveyed her carefully. "Well, I wasn't going to give you this until tomorrow night, but since we're in the gift giving spirit." He leaned over her and popped the cubbyhole open. "For you."

She checked him with a questioning look as she accepted the box and ripped into the paper, which fell away easily. Eternity.

"'Til death do us part," he said softly covering her hand with his, "and even for the eternity after that, you have my love."

And in one breath she was in his arms. It was their beginning. For the rest of all eternity he would be hers, she would be his, and that was exactly how it was supposed to be.

_That's it! I wasn't sure how I wanted to end it, but I think it turned out pretty good. Please let me know what you think – good, bad, indifferent, anything true goes! And thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, I really appreciate it:)_


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